Correspondence between Schaeffer and Braidwood on the visit to Schaeffer's excavation of Robert Dyson, a student of BraidwoodClaude Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer and Robert J Braidwood

Printed: THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Printed: CHICAGO 37 · ILLINOIS

Printed: THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE

[printed: Cables: ORINST CHICAGO] [printed: 1155 EAST FIFTY-EIGHTH STREET]

December 17, 1952

M. Claude F. A. Schaeffer 14 Rue Turgot-le Castel Blanc St. Germain-en-Laye, S. et O. France

Dear Schaeffer:

This is on behalf of Mr. Robert Dyson, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University with advanced standing in Near Eastern archeology. I first met Dyson as a young undergraduate during my lectureship at Harvard in 1949, and I have watched his development with considerable interest since that time.

At present Dyson holds a fellowship in the Harvard Society of Fellows, which is for broad pre-doctoral training, and he plans to utilize the second year of this fellowship for travel and apprenticeship in the Near East, beginning July 1, 1953. His travel and incidental expenses will be borne by the Society of Fellows.

What I am anxious to help Dyson arrange is a succession of one-month to six-weeks residences on the excavations of the various colleagues who will be at work in the Near East during the 1953-54 season. Thus, Dyson could come to you--at his own expense--and would be most willing to undertake any work you might assign him, for a period of a month to six weeks. In return, he would expect only that his food and lodging be provided by you.

Dyson has so far had field training in archeology only in the New World, save for a short ethnological-archeological survey done in the Kalahari desert in 1951. On the otherhand, his training in Near Eastern archeology at Harvard has been very detailed and complete, and I have seen two of his theses (on the chronological development of major cultural traits in the Near East, 5000-2500 B.C., and on the known occurrences of animal remains and plants), which are most useful and encyclopaedic documents. He is personally very pleasant, and I am convinced he would make a most useful and adaptable field hand--at virtually no cost to an expedition.

If you are interested in this further experiment in a sort of residence interneship in Near Eastern field archeology, which was first tried on an international basis in 1950-51 with Mr. Cornelius Hillen of Rotterdam, please let me know--or write directly to Mr. Robert Dyson, Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge 38, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Sincerely yours,

Handwritten: Bob B.

Robert J. Braidwood

Handwritten: P.S. The last Las Shamra season sounded very exciting--great just who told us about it. I'm afraid we're gated to stay home until 1954-'55 - the O.I. can only afford one digging season a year. Very best to both Schaeffers from all the Braidwoods and from the Swifts - Gus works along on the late Amuq stuff, and the publication of the early volume is now scheduled for 19 as ever - R.J.B.