Virginia Watson

Virginia Drew Watson (June 17, 1918 – December 7, 2007) was an American cultural anthropologist who conducted fieldwork among the indigenous Guarani-Kaiowás people of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil and the Tairora and Gadsup tribes in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Watson also conducted archaeological research, analyzing 25,000 artifacts excavated by J. David Cole and publishing her findings with Cole in Prehistory of the Eastern Highlands of New Guinea.

Early life and education Virginia Drew was born in Tomah, Wisconsin on June 17, 1918 to Frances Henry and Eunice (née Williams) Drew. She began conducting fieldwork in the central and southwestern United States in 1939, and in 1940 earned a Ph.B. (Bachelor of Philosophy) in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Also, while a graduate student in 1942, Watson served as a part-time Lecturer at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Virginia and James Watson had two children, James Bennett Watson and Anne Thaxter Watson. titled "Cayuá Culture Change: A Study in Acculturation and Methodology", James Watson thanks his wife who "has given generously of her time at every stage of research and writing and of her first-hand knowledge of the Taquapiri group."

Fieldwork among the Guaranti-Kaiowá In 1943, Watson and her husband traveled to Brazil where she conducted ethnographic research among the indigenous Guaranti-Kaiowá people of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Watson published her research in 1950 in an article titled, “The Wulfing Plates – Products of Prehistoric Americans.” John L. Cotter from the National Park Service describes this publication as “the first detailed study of the Wulfing plates” including studies of the plate contents. Watson did actively supervise students on archaeological research but was not affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis because she had not received her Ph.D. and only worked directly with the Burkell Museum at the University of Washington while her husband served as a professor of anthropology.

Later life After Watson retired, she spent most of her winters in Florida and her summers in Boulder, Colorado. Virginia Drew Watson died on December 7, 2007. She was survived by her husband, James Watson, who died in 2009. The Virginia Drew Watson papers are housed at the National Anthropological Archives. Watson's papers include correspondence, fieldnotes, manuscripts, photographs, reports, maps, and slides. Most correspondence is with colleagues conducting similar research in museums and universities in the United States and Australia. The collection includes field notes from Brazil as well as Tairora, Agarabi, and Gadsup groups in Highland Papua New Guinea.

Selected bibliography

1940 “Delving into Pueblo ruins.” The Anchora 56: 14–151. 1944 "Notas sobre o sistema de parentesco dos Índios Cayuá." Sociologia 6, no. 1: 31–48. 1947 “Ciudad Real: A Guarani-Spanish site on the alto Parana River.” American Antiquity 13: 163–176. 1948 “A note on some projectile points from the Kissimme region.” American Antiquity 14: 127–128. 1950 “The Optima Focus on the Panhandle Aspect: Description and Analysis.” Bulletin of the Texas Archaeological and Paleontological Society 21: 7-68. 1950 The Wulfing Plates: Products of Prehistoric Americans. Vol. 8. Washington University. 1950 The optima focus of the Panhandle aspect: Description and analysis. Texas Archeological and Paleontological Society. 1955: "Pottery in the eastern highlands of New Guinea." Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 11, no. 2: 121–128. 1965 "Agarabi female roles and family structure: a study in sociocultural change." PhD dissertation, University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology, 1965. 1972 Batainabura of New Guinea. New Haven: Human Relations Area Files, 1972. (co-authored with James B. Watson) 1978 Prehistory of the eastern highlands of New Guinea. Australian National University Press. 1993 Watson, Virginia Drew. "Adzera and Agarabi: contrastive ceramics in Papua New Guinea." The Journal of the Polynesian Society 102, no. 3: 305–318. 1995 Watson, Virginia Drew. "Simple and significant: Stone tool production in Highland New Guinea." Lithic Technology: 89–99. 1997 Anyan’s Story: A New Guinea Woman in Two Worlds. Seattle: University of Washington Press.