author
Marshall H. (Marshall Howard) Saville
1867–1935
A pioneering American archaeologist, he helped bring the ancient cultures of Mexico, Central America, and Ecuador to wider attention through fieldwork, teaching, and museum research. His writing blends scholarly curiosity with the excitement of discovery.
1 Audiobook
Turquois mosaic art in ancient Mexico
by Marshall H. (Marshall Howard) Saville
About the author
Born in Rockport, Massachusetts, in 1867, Marshall Howard Saville studied anthropology at Harvard and trained under the influential archaeologist Frederic Ward Putnam. Early in his career he took part in fieldwork in places including Ohio and Honduras, building the practical skills that shaped his later work.
Saville became known for major archaeological research in Mesoamerica and South America. He worked with the American Museum of Natural History, later served as professor of American archaeology at Columbia University, and carried out important expeditions in Mexico and Ecuador. His investigations of ancient sites and artifacts helped expand museum collections and deepened scholarly understanding of the Indigenous histories of the Americas.
Alongside his fieldwork, Saville was a prolific writer whose books and reports introduced readers to subjects such as Yucatán, Oaxaca, and Ecuadorian archaeology. He died in 1935, leaving behind a body of work that reflects an era when American archaeology was rapidly taking shape.