Lorena Emilia Mirambell y Silva (born 15 March 1935) is a Mexican archaeologist specialising in prehistory in Mexico. A 1975 Guggenheim Fellow, she is researcher emeritus of Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia and was president of the Council of Archaeology from 1989 to 1992.
Lorena Mirambell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 March 1935 |
| Occupation | Archaeologist |
| Awards | |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Archaeology |
| Sub-discipline | Prehistory |
| Institutions | Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia |
Biography
editMirambell was born in Mexico City on 15 March 1935.[1] She joined the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), where she in 1963 obtained her master's degree in anthropological sciences and became a researcher.[1] She later studied in Europe, where she obtained her prehistory certificate on a scholarship at the University of Bordeaux 1 in 1966 and studied environmental geology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology in 1969.[1][2]
Later returning to INAH, Mirambell worked there as coordinator of the prehistoric archaeology (1966-1968) and the laboratories section (1969-1972), before serving again in the former position from 1971 to 1974.[1] She was later head of INAH's prehistoric department by 1988.[3] She later served as president of the federal government's Council of Archaeology from 1989 to 1992.[2] In 2015, she was appointed researcher emeritus at INAH.[4]
Mirambell's academic work focuses on prehistory, including the Late Pleistocene era.[2] In 1967, she was sent to the Tlapacoya archaeological site to lead an excavation, where it was confirmed by radiometric dating that humans lived in the Americas circa 24,000 BP.[5] El Universal called this and other visits to Pleistocene paleontological sites like Rancho La Amapola "a watershed for prehistory in Mexico".[2] Other contributions include the methodology of stone tools[2] - a study for which she was appointed a Guggenheim Fellow in 1975[1][6] - including from places like East Asia, Indonesia, and Australia.[4] She was also awarded the Ordre des Palmes académiques for her work on prehistory.[4] In June 2018, INAH's Subdirectorate of Laboratories and Academic Support organized a colloquium in her honour, hosted by INAH head Diego Prieto Hernández.[2]
Mirambell and her mentor[4] José Luis Lorenzo Bautista later became close after his wife's death.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Reports of the President and of the Treasurer. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 1975. p. 132.
- ^ a b c d e f "Rinden homenaje a Lorena Mirambell, investigadora emérita del INAH". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 October 2024.
- ^ "Mexican Family Finds". Albuquerque Journal. 22 January 1988. p. C8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "Lorena Emilia Mirambell y Silva". Mediateca INAH. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
- ^ McCoy, Alvin (24 December 1967). "Discovery Proves Man Lived Here 24,000 Years Ago". The Cincinnati Enquirer. World Book Encyclopedia Service. p. 4-D – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Lorena Mirambell". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
- ^ Rodriguez-Loubet, François (1997). "José-Luis Lorenzo (1939-1996), fondateur de la préhistoire du Mexique". Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française. 94 (2): 130–132 – via Persée.