All Interviews William J. Robinson
William J. Robinson was born in Erie, PA on February 19, 1929. He served in the US Army from 1951 to 1953. Bill’s love of the desert and for archaeology brought him to the University of Arizona where he received a PhD in Anthropology. Over 30 years as a professor and, ultimately, Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Bill helped advance the use of dendrochronology to study archaeological sites throughout the Southwest and the United States.
In this 2019 interview with Bill he describes how he got into archaeology, his work editing Rex Gerald’s report of Davis Ranch, and excavation at Point of Pines. He shares about his main professors and mentors at the University of Arizona: Emil Haury, Watson Smith and Julian Hayden. Bill discusses the cultural implications of tree rings and his career at the University of Arizona Tree-Ring Lab, excavations at Acoma, Mission Guevavi and San Xavier and talks about changes in the field of archaeology.
Bill passed away April 26, 2021.