Parsons, Jeffrey R.

Jeffrey R. Parsons was born in Washington, D.C., in October 9, 1939. During his childhood, he and his family moved to Philadelphia for a period of five years and afterwards settled in Fairfax, Virginia. He would return as an undergraduate student to Pennsylvania to study geology at the Pennsylvania State University. It was in choosing elective courses that Parsons was introduced to archaeology and anthropology. His interest in those disciplines led him to pursue a graduate education in anthropology. After applying and being accepted to the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan, Parsons chose the program in Michigan where James B. Griffin offered an assistantship at the Museum of Anthropology.

Parsons completed his undergraduate degree in geology and mineralogy in 1961. That summer, and the years to follow, provided a time for him to acquire fieldwork experience through several projects with the Pennsylvania State University. Parsons worked as a field assistant with William Sanders' Teotihuacan Valley Project in Mexico from 1961 to 1966. In 1966, he also worked during a three month period with the Tikal Sustaining Area Project in Guatemala.

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