Dr. Gordon C. Pollard

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Gordon Pollard is an archaeologist who received his B.A. in Anthropology from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University in New York City. His doctoral field research in the 1960s focused on pre-Hispanic cultural development in the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile, from the beginning of sedentary village life based on farming and llama herding, up to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. He conducted subsequent fieldwork across the Andes in northwest Argentina where similar patterns of culture had emerged.

Desiring to involve students in fieldwork in addition to his classroom courses, Dr. Pollard’s research shifted to historical archaeology in the 1980s, and he conducted numerous field and laboratory courses related to local 19th century history.  Over many years these included the Rickert-Allen farm house site in Peru (N.Y.), the Kent-Delord House in Plattsburgh, the Caldwell iron mine site at Clayburg in the Saranac Valley, and the large iron-making site at Clintonville in the Ausable Valley. When Dr. Pollard retired in 2010, the complete collection of his archaeological research materials, including photographs, were acquired by Special Collections in Feinberg Library. Links to the guides to the collection are provided in the section on publications, below.

Since his retirement from teaching, Dr. Pollard has continued research and publication on our region’s former iron industry. As well, he is serving as a part-time Special Collections assistant in Feinberg Library, helping to process and preserve the wide range of collections and materials that have been dedicated to that repository.

• Education
  • Ph.D. in Anthropology, Columbia University, New York City, 1970
  • B.A. in Anthropology, Rice University, Houston, 1965

   

• Select Publications
  • 2018 “Images of the 19th Century Adirondack Bloom Iron Industry,” in Iron in New York, edited by Martin Pickands. New York State Museum Record No. 8, Albany, pp. 1–43. 
  • 2012 “Guide to the Dr. Gordon C. Pollard Archaeological Research Materials, 1964-2010.” Collection 2010.1, prepared by Gordon Pollard, Debra Kimok, and Stephen Minchin. Special Collections, Benjamin F. Feinberg Library, SUNY College at Plattsburgh. 
    • Index of Photographs in the Gordon C. Pollard Archaeological Research Collection 2010.1 
  • 2006  “A Large Business:  the Clintonville Site, Resources, and Scale at Adirondack Bloomery Forges.” co-authored with former student Haagen Klaus. IA, the Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology 30(1): 19-46. Awarded the R.M. Vogel Prize for outstanding scholarship in industrial archeology, 2007. 
  • 1998 “Experimentation in 19th Century Bloomery Iron Production:  Evidence from the Adirondacks of New York.” The Journal of the Historical Metallurgy Society 28(1): 33–40, London.
  • 1993 Bottles and Business in Plattsburgh, New York: 100 Years of Embossed Bottles as Historical Artifacts. Clinton County Historical Association. A 16-page supplement to this book was produced in 2005.
  • 1991 “The Company Store of 'S.P. Bowen & Co.' at Clayburgh, New York, 1869.” The Antiquarian 7(1): 10–16, Clinton County Historical Association. Awarded a McMaster's Prize for Excellent Writing on North Country History.
  • 1985 “The Spanish League and Inca Sites:  a Reassessment of the 1566 Itinerary of Juan de Matienzo through N.W. Argentina.”  in Recent Studies in Andean Prehistory and Protohistory, edited by D.P. Kvietok and D.H. Sandweiss, pp. 179–198, Cornell University Latin American Studies Program, Ithaca.
  • 1983 “The Prehistory of N.W. Argentina: the Calchaquí Valley Project 1977-1981.” Journal of Field Archaeology 10(1): 11–32.
  • 1975 Prehistory and Desert Adaptation in Northern Chile: The Ceramic Stage of the Middle Río Loa Region.  State University of New York Press, Albany.  [Dr. Pollard’s doctoral dissertation]
  • 1975 “Llama herding and settlement in pre-Hispanic northern Chile:  application of an analysis for determining domestication.” co-authored with I.M. Drew. American Antiquity  40(3): 296–305.
  • 1975 “Archaeological maize from northern Chile.” co-authored with Paul Mangelsdorf. Botanical Museum Leaflets of Harvard University 24(3): 49–64.
  • 1971 “Cultural change and adaptation in the central Atacama Desert of northern Chile.” Ñawpa Pacha 9, pp. 41–64. Institute of Andean Studies, Berkeley.
• Awards & Honors
  • 2007 Robert M. Vogel Prize for outstanding scholarship in industrial archaeology, awarded by the Society for Industrial Archeology.
  • 2001, 1997, 1996, 1994, SUNY Plattsburgh, Redcay Faculty Fellowships
  • 2000 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
  • 1994 Award for "Best Research of 1993" for Bottles and Business in Plattsburgh, New York:  100 Years of Embossed Bottles as Historical Artifacts, from the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors.
  • 1991 McMaster's Award for Excellent Writing on North Country History.  Clinton County Historical Association.
  • 1979-81 National Endowment for the Humanities Research Grant.
  • 1976, 1973, 1971 SUNY Research Foundation, Faculty Research Fellowships.
  • 1973 National Science Foundation Latin American Cooperative Science Program Fellowship.
  • 1968-69 National Science Foundation, Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant