Sir Edward Burnett TylorDied 2 Jan 1917 at age 84 (born 2 Oct 1832).English anthropologist regarded as the founder of cultural anthropology. After travelling in the U.S. (1855-56) he proceeded to Cuba (1856), where he met Henry Christy the ethnologist. Together they visited Mexico, where Christy's influence greatly stimulated Tylor's interest in anthropology. Seeing the rich prehistoric remains in Mexico led Tylor to make a systematic study of the science. In his most important work, Primitive Culture (1871), being influenced by Darwin's theory of biological evolution, he developed the theory of an evolutionary, progressive relationship between primitive and modern cultures. By 1883, he was Keeper of the University Museum at Oxford and Professor of Anthropology there 1896-1909. He was knighted in 1912. |
