author

Martin A. Baumhoff

A California archaeologist and anthropologist, he wrote influential studies of Native California cultures, Yana archaeology, and the prehistoric rock art of Nevada and eastern California. His work combined field research with a clear interest in how environment, history, and culture shape one another.

1 Audiobook

California Athabascan Groups

California Athabascan Groups

by Martin A. Baumhoff

About the author

Martin A. Baumhoff was an American anthropologist and archaeologist whose career was closely tied to the University of California, Davis. According to UC Davis and a memorial published through eScholarship, he was born in Camino, California, on December 22, 1926, earned his Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1959, joined the UC Davis faculty in 1958, and died on March 27, 1983.

His research centered on the archaeology and ethnography of California and the Great Basin. He is especially associated with California Athabascan Groups, An Introduction to Yana Archaeology, and, with Robert F. Heizer, Prehistoric Rock Art of Nevada and Eastern California, a major study of Indigenous rock art sites.

Baumhoff also took on important academic leadership roles at UC Davis, serving as chair of anthropology and later as vice chancellor of student affairs. The memorial record suggests he was valued not only for his scholarship but also for his service to the university, making him a notable figure in mid-20th-century California anthropology.