author
Theodore Elmer White
1905–1977
A pioneering American paleontologist and zooarchaeologist, he helped show how animal remains can reveal the ways people lived in the past. His work also played an important role in the early development of modern zooarchaeology in North America.
1 Audiobook
The Dinosaur Quarry. Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado-Utah
by John M. (John Maxwell) Good, Gilbert F. Stucker, Theodore Elmer White
About the author
Theodore Elmer White (December 8, 1905 – September 7, 1977), often known as Ted or Doc, was an American paleontologist and zooarchaeologist. Sources including Wikipedia and the National Park Service describe him as an early pioneer in using animal remains from archaeological sites to interpret human behavior.
His work helped establish methods that later became standard in zooarchaeology, including contributions to the Minimum Number of Individuals, or MNI, approach used to estimate how many animals are represented in a collection of bones. A Smithsonian catalog entry for a later study of his career also notes his lasting influence on the field’s development in North America.
White also worked in public science roles. The National Park Service says he was hired in 1953 as Dinosaur National Monument’s first official park paleontologist, after earlier work with institutions including the Smithsonian, the U.S. Army, and Harvard University. No suitable verified portrait image could be confirmed from the pages checked, so this entry does not include one.