Joe Ben Wheat

Who was Joe Ben Wheat?

Dr. Joe Ben Wheat was an archaeologist, curator, teacher, and author known for his expertise on blanket weavings and textiles of the Navajo and other Indians in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. His research focused on Mogollon, Anasazi, Great Plains Paleo-Indian, and African Paleolithic archaeology.

He served as president of the Society for American Archaeology for two years and was the first Curator of Anthropology for the University of Colorado Museum; a position in which he held from 1953 to 1988. Dr. Wheat taught for decades at the University of Colorado in Boulder and contributed to numerous archaeological articles, including the Encyclopædia Britannica. Dr. Wheat conducted excavations, most notably the Yellow Jacket Canyon site named the Joe Ben Wheat Site Complex which he investigated for more than 30 years. He conducted other excavations, too, such as the Olsen-Chubbuck Bison Kill Site and the Jurgens Site.