The Donald J. Ortner Papers, dated 1963 to 2013, document his research and professional activities while working in the Division of Physical Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. They primarily deal with his contributions to the field of paleopathology and his work with specimens from Bab edh-Dhra, Jordan and Chichester, England. The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence, files related to Ortner's publications, specimen observations and analysis, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The Donald J. Ortner Papers primarily document his projects, research, and correspondence working as a biological anthropologist in the Division of Physical Anthropology of the Department of Anthropology from 1963 until his death in 2012. The bulk of the projects represented relate to his work in paleopathology, such as the Near Eastern skeletal biology program in Jordan and the medieval skeletal disease project in England. The collection consists of notes, research materials, correspondence, data and data analysis, transcripts of specimen observations, maps, blueprints, artwork, negatives, slides, photographs, CD-Roms, floppy discs, and sound cassettes.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 8 series: Series 1. Correspondence, 1966-2012; Series 2. Subject files, 1965-2013, undated; Series 3. Near Eastern Skeletal Biology Program, 1977-2010, undated; Series 4. Medieval Skeletal Disease Project, 1988-2006, undated; Series 5. Other publications, projects, and research, 1963-2011, undated; Series 6. Professional activities, 1971-2007, undated; Series 7. Biographical and office files, 1963-2011, undated; Series 8. Artwork, 1978, undated
Biographical Note:
Donald J. Ortner was a biological anthropologist in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). By the time of his death, Ortner had served in many positions at the Museum, including Acting Director (1994-1996). His areas of expertise included human paleopathology, human health in medieval England, bioarcheology of the ancient Near East, and the history and evoluton of human infectious diseases. Ortner was a founding member of the Paleopathology Association.
Ortner was born in 1938 in Stoneham, Massachusetts and arrived at the NMNH in 1963, working primarily with J. Lawrence Angel who had recently started as Curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology. While working at the Museum, Ortner completed his Master's in Anthropology in 1967 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 1970. His doctoral dissertation was on The Effects of Aging and Disease on the Micromorphology of Human Compact Bone.
Ortner worked with Walter G. J. Putschar, a pathologist based at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, on a series of short-courses (1971-1974) on paleopathology at the Smithsonian. During the summer of 1974, Putschar and Ortner traveled to Europe (London, Edinburgh, Zurich, Strasbourg, Vienna, Prague) studying and photographing examples of skeletal pathology in museums and other repositories. The result of this research was the book Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains published in 1981, with later editions in 1985 and 2003.
In 1977, Ortner joined the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain directed by archaeologists Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub, focusing on the site of Bab edh-Dhra. Ortner studied the tombs and skeletons for data indicating cultural and biological changes, especially urbanization and connection to the development of other "Western civilizations." Ortner participated in two more field seasons in Bab edh-Dhra in 1979 and 1981. From his research at Bab-edh-Dhra, Ortner published many scholarly articles and recreated two tombs for the Hall of Western Civilization at NMNH.
In 1988, Ortner began his collaboration with the University of Bradford in Bradford, England, teaching short-courses on paleopathology. While a Visiting Professor at the University, he also participated in a project on human health and disease in Medieval England. The project focused on leprosy and syphilis in skeletons from St. James Hospital's leprosarium cemetery in Chichester, Wharram Perry, and Magistrates' Court in Kingston-upon-Hull. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University in 1995.
Donald J. Ortner died on April 29th, 2012 in Maryland.
Sources consulted:
Ubelaker, D. H. "Obituary: Donald J. Ortner (1938–2012)." American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 149 (2012): 155–156.
Arnoldi, Mary Jo and Ann Kaupp. "Donald J. Ortner, Sr. (1939-2012)." Anthropolog: Newsletter of the Department of Anthropology, Spring 2012: 1-3.
Chronology
1938 -- Born on August 23 in Stoneham, Massachusetts.
1960 -- Received B.A. in Zoology from Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland.
1963 -- Began working at the Smithsonian Institution.
1967 -- Received M.A. in Anthropology from Syracuse University.
1969 -- Promoted to Assistant Curator.
1970 -- Received Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.
1971 -- Promoted to Associate Curator.
1971-1975 -- Taught part-time at the University of Maryland.
1974 -- Spent summer with Dr. Walter G. J. Putschar studying pathological specimens in Europe.
1976 -- Promoted to Curator in the Anthropology Department, National Museum of Natural History.
1977 -- First field season at Bab edh-Dhra cemetery site in Jordan.
1979 -- Second field season at Bab edh-Dhra cemetery site in Jordan.
1981 -- Third field season at Bab edh-Dhra cemetery site in Jordan.
1988 -- Began association with the University of Bradford in Bradford, England.
1988-1992 -- Chairman of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History.
1994-1996 -- Acting Director of the National Museum of Natural History.
1995 -- Awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the University of Bradford.
1999-2001 -- President of the Paleopathology Association.
2005 -- Received Eve Cockburn Award from the Paleopathology Association in recognition of his contributions in the field of paleopathology.
2012 -- Died on April 29 in Maryland.
Related Materials:
The following photo lots depicting Donald J. Ortner can be found at the NAA:
Photo Lot 7D: Photograph of attendees after American Anthropological Association annual meeting, 1965
Photo Lot 7A: Portraits made at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, 1970
Photo Lot 77-45: Photograph of Smithsonian Institution physical anthropologists, circa 1977
Photo Lot 4822: Division of Physical Anthropology collection of photographs of physical anthropologists, undated
Sound recordings of Donald J. Ortner at the NAA:
John Lawrence Angel Papers, Sound Recordings, "How Humans Adapt: A Biocultural Odyssey," November 9, 1981
Other collections at the NAA in which Donald J. Ortner is a correspondent or creator of material:
Records of the Department of Anthropology, 1877-1980
Department of Anthropology Annual Reports, 1920-1983
John Lawrence Angel Papers, 1930s-1980s
Three films that document Ortner's work in Bab edh-Dhra are located in the Human Studies Film Archives (HSFA):
Film number 2000.9.1, The Bones of Bab edh-Dhra, ca. 1970s
Film number 2000.9.3, Bab edh-Dhra Film Project, 1970-1980
Film number 2014.3, City of the Dead, 1978
The Smithsonian Institution Archives holds the original City of the Dead in Accession 05-282, Office of Telecommunications, Productions.
Provenance:
These papers were transferred to the NAA from the Department of Anthropology in 2014.
Restrictions:
The Donald J. Ortner Papers are open for research.
Access to the Donald J. Ortner Papers requires an appointment.
Requests to view forensic files are subject to review by the NAA. Forensic files can only be
viewed in the National Anthropological Archives reading room. No copies are permitted unless
permission is granted by the agency the report was written for.
Electronic records are unavailable for research. Please contact the reference archivist for
additional information.
Use of audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Field photography from the 1923 Louis C. G. Clarke Kechipauan Expedition at the Kechipauan ruins on the A:shiwi (Zuni) Reservation in New Mexico.
Scope and Contents:
The photographs in this collection include field photography from the Louis C. G. Clarke Kechipauan Expedition shot by Edwin C. Coffin and Samuel K. Lothrop in 1923. This includes images of rooms, trenches, kivas in addition to general views of the site. There are several photographs which include images of burial and human remains which are restricted due to cultural sensitivity. The majority of the photographs are photographic prints, which later had copy negatives made during a large photograph conservation project in the 1960s. There were 30 negatives that arrived with the prints in 1923 but it appears the majority of these were destroyed in 1959, possibly because they were nitrate. Some, but not all of these negatives, had copy prints made before they were destroyed.
The Louis C. G. Clarke Kechipauan Expedition happened concurrently with the Hendricks-Hodge Hawikku (Hawikuh) archaeological expedition on the A:shiwi (Zuni) Reservation in New Mexico. Though there had been some preliminary archaeological work conducted by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation (MAI) in 1919, in 1923 a more substantial joint expedition was conducted by the MAI and Louis C. G. Clarke, director of the Cambridge University Museum in England. The expedition was under the direct supervision of Samuel K. Lothrop. Kechipauan (Kechipawan) was a neighboring A:shiwi (Zuni) Pueblo to Hawikku in the Ojo Caliente Valley. For more information about the history of Kechipauan see "The Age of the Zuni Pueblo of Kechipauan" by Frederick Webb Hodge in Indian Notes, Volume III, No. 2.
Related Materials:
The archaeological materials for this collection are in the NMAI archaeology collection with catalog numbers 12/3829 – 12/3911; 12/4834.
Provenance:
Field photographs came to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation along with the collections in 1923.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu). Photographs with burials, human remains or any other cultural sensitivity are restricted.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Topic:
Excavations (Archaeology) -- New Mexico Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Louis C. G. Clarke Kechipauan Expedition photograph collection. Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation Search this
Extent:
52 Photographic prints (3.5"x4.25")
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Date:
1951-1967
Summary:
Neville A. Harte (1907-1997) was an amateur archaeologist in Panama in the 1950's and 1960's. This collection contains 52 photographic prints of archeological objects excavated at Venado Beach, Panama as well as photographs of the excavation itself. The archaeological collection was sold by Neville and Eva Harte to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in 1967.
Scope and Contents:
The majority of the photographs in this collection are snapsots of archaeological objects from Neville and Eva Harte's Panama collection. These photographs were sent to Frederick Dockstader, director at the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, for the purpose of assessing the collection, which Dockstader later purchased in 1967. The photographs include images of archaeological items excavated by Harte at Venado Beach, Panama, in 1951 and 1957. Some photographs include Harte's original object numbering system. Object images include pottery, goldwork, shell and beadwork. There are also a small amount of photographs taken during the excavation itself at Venado Beach. These include images of men digging, pottery in situ and of the Venado Beach burial site. Images of human remains and of the burial site itself are restricted. These photographs have catalog numbers P19197-P19248.
Arrangement:
Arranged by catalog number, P19197-P19248.
Biographical / Historical:
Neville Alfred Harte was born March 28, 1907 in England to John and Flora (nee Collier) Harte. Neville, along with his mother and sister, moved to the United States some time around 1923 and eventually settled in Florida. Neville and Eva (b.1915), nee Nelcolichif, were married in 1935 and had two daughters, Flora Agnes Harte (1937-1966) and Josephine Harte (b.1939). Harte joined the army and was eventually stationed in Panama in the Canal zone where he and Eva became interested in archeology and both joined the Archaeological Society of Panama. During the 1950s and 1960s, Harte conducted excavations at Venado Beach, Sona, Guacamayo, Rio Grande Valley and Madden (Alajuela) Lake. Harte's publications on the subject include a "Preliminary report on petroglyphs of the Republic of Panama, 1951 to 1960." After retiring from the army in 1968, Harte began reproducing his own replicas of golden huacas. Harte died in Florida at the age of 90 on June 21, 1997.
Related Materials:
The Neville and Eva Harte collection (Gold, pottery, shell and ethnology) can be found in the National Museum of the American Indian ethnology collections with catalog numbers 24/0475-24/0495 and 24/0501-24/0726. To view these collections please visit the Accessing the Object Collections page on NMAI's website.
Separated Materials:
Neville Harte's field notebooks between 1950 and 1962 can be found in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation records (NMAI.AC.001). These include--Guacamaya, Rio Grande Valley, Madden Lake (Box 247, Folder 4); Sona Expedition (Box 247, Folder 5); Venado Beach (Box 247, Folder 6). There is also a map of the Venado Beach excavation. There is additional correpondence in the MAI, Heye Foundation records from Neville and his wife Eva to MAI director Frederick Dockstader regarding the sale of their Panama collections to the Museum (Box 25, Folder 6).
Provenance:
These photographs were sent to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation by Neville Harte in 1967 as part of a larger purchase of the Neville and Eva Harte Collection.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu. Please note that there are restricted images in this collection.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Neville and Eva Harte collection and excavation photographs; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Lepers outside the gate : excavations at the cemetery of the Hospital of St. James and St. Mary Magdalene, Chichester, 1986-87 and 1993 / edited by John Magilton, Frances Lee and Anthea Boylston ; with contributions by Margaret Judd ... [et al.]
Neolithic stepping stones : excavation and survey within the western seaways of Britain, 2008-2014 / [edited by] Duncan Garrow and Fraser Sturt ; with contributions by Hugo Anderson-Whymark [and 16 others]
Roman Piercebridge : excavations by D.W. Harding and Peter Scott 1969-1981 / edited by H.E.M. Cool and David J.P. Mason ; with contributions by Lindsay Allason-Jones [and others]
By river, fields and factories : the making of the Lower Lea Valley : archaeological and cultural heritage investigations on the site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games / by Andrew B. Powell ; with contributions by Phil Andrews [and 25 others] ; illustrations by Karen Nichols, Kitty Foster and Elizabeth James ; [edited by Philippa Bradley and Julie Gardiner]
