Patty Jo Watson

Patty Jo Watson, 92, died peacefully on August 1, 2024, after a short decline. She died in her own bed with her daughter holding her hand.
Patty Jo was born at home on April 26, 1932, in Superior, Nebraska to Elaine "Mimi" and Ralph "Doc" Andersen. Later the family moved to Sheffield, Iowa, where Patty Jo graduated Valedictorian from Sheffield High School. When she was very young, she wanted to be a cowboy, and all her life remembered fondly the year she received cowboy gear from Santa. As an older child, she was known to be something of a bookworm, often preferring to read rather than take part in social activities. However, she also loved spending time on her grandparents' farm, especially when she was allowed to drive the tractor.
After high school, Patty Jo attended Iowa State College, where, in her junior year, she was tapped for a University of Chicago program for promising students. Moving to the Windy City, she studied Anthropology, going on to earn her M.A. in that subject in 1956, and her Ph.D. in 1959.
Patty Jo met her husband-to-be in Sheffield when they were high school students. She and Richard "Red" Watson were married in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 1955. During their honeymoon, Red introduced Patty Jo to cave exploration, something that would inform and enrich her personal and professional life for decades.
Before joining the faculty of the Anthropology Department at Washington University, St. Louis, Patty Jo taught part time in several colleges and universities, including the University of Michigan. Anna Melissa, the couples' only child, was born in Ann Arbor in 1962.
Patty Jo was one of the world's leading experts on cave archeology and agricultural origins. Her work took her and her family all over the world, including to Iraq; Iran; Turkey; Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; New Mexico; China; and beyond. Wherever she went, whoever she worked with, she was a kind, non-judgemental, patient and wise soul, beloved and depended upon by students, friends, and family.
When Pat and Red retired in 2004, they moved to their dream house in Missoula, Montana, an abode as quirky and unique as they were. In Missoula, they connected with the local caving and academic communities, and they were always up for a visit from friends and family, or for a travel adventure. A highlight of their time out west was a camping trip they took with their young grandsons through Arizona and New Mexico.
When Red was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2014, the couple (along with their tuxedo cat, Cougar) moved to a small house in Arlington, Mass. to be close to Anna and her family. There, they took daily walks in the neighborhood, making friends with the neighbors, and especially, with the neighbors' dogs. When Red needed extra care, they moved into an assisted living facility, Brightview, Arlington.
After Red's death in 2019, Patty Jo continued to live at Brightview, surrounded by friends and well cared for as she navigated her own diagnosis of vascular dementia.
Patty Jo is survived by her younger sister, Sharon Kay Dreyer of Riverside, California; her daughter, Anna Watson (Laurie Caldwell) of Arlington, Mass.; and grandsons, Riley Watson of Austin, Texas; and Liam Watson of Tokyo, Japan. She is predeceased by her parents and by her husband.
Patty Jo's family extends heartfelt thanks and deep gratitude to the staff and residents of Brightview, Arlington, especially to everyone in Wellspring Village, who cared for her and kept her company with love, skill, and kindness during her last years.
Patty Jo leaves behind not just her grieving family members, but also countless colleagues, former students, and friends whose lives she influenced in her own loving and inimitable fashion. To honor her generosity and tenderness towards vulnerable animals of all kinds, please consider sending donations to American Fondouk or Reservation Animal Rescue. Links to these charities are below.
A memorial service for Patty Jo will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 13, at Bigelow Chapel in Mt. Auburn Cemetery. The service will be livestreamed and recorded. Please find a link to the livestream below.
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For a more detailed look at Patty Jo's academic career, please read on! Thank you to her colleagues (and former students) Drs. Janet Levy, William Marquardt, and Julie Stein, for compiling her accomplishments. Professor Patty Jo Watson started her college education at Iowa State College and completed her higher education at the University of Chicago, earning an M.A. in Anthropology in 1956 and a Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1959. While a Junior at Iowa State College she was invited to join the graduate program at University of Chicago moving into an experimental program for promising students, thus she never received a B.A. Her dissertation director was Prof. Robert Braidwood, a pioneer in the study of the beginnings of agriculture in the Near East. Her dissertation was titled Early Village Farming in the Levant and its Environment.
Patty Jo taught part-time in several colleges and universities in southern California and at the University of Michigan before joining the faculty at Washington University – St. Louis in 1969 and teaching there until her retirement in 2004. She ended her career as the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor, in the Department of Anthropology.
Starting in 1953 and continuing for fifty years, Patty Jo participated in and led archaeological field work in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Arizona, New Mexico, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and consulted on excavations in many other places, including China. She also conducted ethnographic research in Iran. Her field research was supported by grants from numerous organizations and institutions, including the Illinois State Museum, Washington University, National Geographic Society, National Science Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. She was an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, and her professional accomplishments were recognized with numerous awards; including the Fryxell Medal for Interdisciplinary Research from the Society for American Archaeology, the Distinguished Service Award from the American Anthropological Association, the Gold Medal for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement from the Archaeological Institute of America, and the Peter Raven Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Academy of Science of St. Louis.
Over her distinguished career, Patty Jo made ground-breaking contributions to several significant topics in world archaeology. These include: the "Neolithic Revolution," i.e., beginnings of domestication, horticulture, and farming in both the Near East and in North America; archaeological theory and the role of science in archaeology; and more recently, the importance of valuing gender and the lives of women in our interpretations of the past.
Patty Jo was introduced to caving by her husband Richard (Red) Watson during their honeymoon in 1955. She became a leader in cave archaeology, focusing on the large and complex Mammoth Cave system in central Kentucky, with later forays into numerous caves in Tennessee. Many of her students bonded with her and each other while crawling through the passages of Mammoth and Salts Caves, recording evidence of Native American sophisticated use of the caves 4000 years ago.
All of Patty Jo's research was distinguished by an integration of archaeological field evidence, appropriate ethnographic data, and thoughtful theoretical analysis. It was also characterized by extensive collaboration among multidisciplinary specialists, including geoarchaeologists, zooarchaeologists, archaeobotanists, ethnographers, and others. This interdisciplinary approach built on her experience with Robert Braidwood's innovative projects. Her research produced numerous published books and articles.
In addition to research and publication, Patty Jo contributed to her profession through service to numerous professional organizations. Among many other positions, she served as Board member of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) and of the Association for Field Archaeology; grant panel member for both the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities; editor of American Antiquity, the lead scholarly journal of the SAA; chair of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and president of the Kentucky Organization of Professional Archaeologists.
Despite these professional accomplishments and recognitions, Patty Jo is perhaps remembered best for her extraordinary commitment to graduate and undergraduate students, colleagues, and mentees. Patty Jo was not only an advocate for collaborative, interdisciplinary research, she lived this commitment in her numerous co-authored, multi-authored, and co-edited publications. During her teaching years, and continuing after retirement, she constantly reviewed and commented on others' draft manuscripts; advised undergraduate and graduate students and early stage professionals; helped secure field work opportunities and financial support for current and past students; and provided advice by letter, phone, email, and in person. She was an exemplary mentor to young professionals across the whole field of archaeology, and her students tried to take this model to their own careers.
Patty Jo was humble and inherently good natured, kind-hearted, and loved to work hard and laugh. She brought her family to the field and cared deeply about other families too. She stayed connected, always wanting to learn the newest technique or discovery. Although she may not have started out "attempting to change the world of archaeology," in fact she did. And we will all go to our graves insisting that "data" takes a plural verb.