# Delbert Leroy True

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American archaeologist

**D. L. True** (August 31, 1923 – June 20, 2001) was an archaeologist who worked in [California](/source/California), particularly [San Diego County](/source/San_Diego_County), and in northern [Chile](/source/Chile).

Born in [San Pedro](/source/San_Pedro%2C_Los_Angeles%2C_California), California, son of a lumberyard foreman, True worked in a shipyard and served as an aerial-gunnery instructor for the [U.S. Army Air Corps](/source/United_States_Army_Air_Corps) during World War II. After the war he established a small avocado ranch in [Pauma Valley](/source/Pauma_Valley), an inland area in northern San Diego County, also working as a school bus driver.

True became interested in and thoroughly familiar with the archaeological remains of the Pauma region's prehistoric cultures. Under the mentorship of [Clement W. Meighan](/source/Clement_Woodward_Meighan), he enrolled in anthropology at the [University of California, Los Angeles](/source/University_of_California%2C_Los_Angeles), where he was cited by *[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))* magazine as one of the dozen top graduates in 1961.[1] He went on to receive his doctorate from UCLA in 1966, with a dissertation entitled "Archaeological Differentiation of Shoshonean and Yuman Speaking Groups in Southern California". He served on the anthropology faculty of the [University of California, Davis](/source/University_of_California%2C_Davis), from 1965 until his retirement.

True was instrumental in defining the [Pauma](/source/Pauma_Complex), [San Luis Rey](/source/San_Luis_Rey_Complex), and [Cuyamaca](/source/Cuyamaca_Complex) complexes and in elucidating their roles in regional prehistory. Together with [Claude N. Warren](/source/Claude_Nelson_Warren), he also helped to clarify understanding of the early [San Dieguito](/source/San_Dieguito_complex) and [La Jolla](/source/La_Jolla_complex) complexes.[2]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Top of the Heap"](https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,895372-2,00.html). *[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))*. June 16, 1961.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Waugh, Georgie, and Mark E. Basgall (editors). 2008. *Avocados to Millingstones: Papers in Honor of D. L. True*. Monographs in California and Great Basin Anthropology No. 5. California State University, Sacramento.

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