{{short description|Geologist, paleontologist, archaeologist and prehistorian (1912-1994)}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = | name = Elisabeth Schmid | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = 1912 | birth_place = Freiburg im Breisgau | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->27 March 1994, age 81 or 82 | death_place = | death_cause = | region = | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Archaeologist | period = | known_for = | title = | boards = | spouse = | children = | awards = | signature = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | education = | alma_mater = University of Freiburg | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | influences = | era = | discipline = | workplaces = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | main_interests = | notable_works = ''Atlas of Animal Bones'' (1972) | notable_ideas = | influenced = | website = | footnotes = | family = }}
'''Elisabeth Schmid''' (1912–27 March 1994) was a German archaeologist and osteologist. She is best known for her work concerning the prehistoric ivory statue, the lion-man, and for her book, ''Atlas of Animal Bones''. Schmid was the first woman to serve as dean of the natural sciences faculty of the University of Basel. In 1953 she co-founded the Swiss Archaeological Society with Rudolf Laur-Belart.
==Early life and career==
Schmid was born in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1912 and graduated with a PhD from the University of Freiburg.<ref name=Ogilvie>{{cite book|last1=Ogilvie|first1=Marilyn|last2=Harvey|first2=Joy|author-link=Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie|author-link2=Joy Harvey|title=The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives From Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135963422|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FlxsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1716|language=en}}</ref> She was habilitated in Freiburg and Basel.<ref name="Ogilvie" />
Over her career, Schmid published over two hundred papers and two books.<ref name=Ogilvie /> She began studying animal bones from Augusta Raurica in the 1950s, and her analysis of those bones was the subject of her most well-known book, ''Atlas of Animal Bones'', which was published in 1972 and is still used worldwide today.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Deschler-Erb|first1=Sabine|title=Animal Husbandry in Roman Switzerland: State of Research and New Perspectives|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-archaeology/article/animal-husbandry-in-roman-switzerland-state-of-research-and-new-perspectives/1A7F87DAA5CDE71F08D54AA95AB1EC36|journal=European Journal of Archaeology|accessdate=10 October 2017|pages=416–430|doi=10.1017/eaa.2017.18|date=2017|volume=20|issue=3|s2cid=165057907 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 1953, she established a laboratory at the University of Basel for prehistoric studies. In 1975 she became the first woman to serve as dean of the natural sciences faculty.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elisabeth |first=Schmid |date=2022 |others=Deschler-Erb, Sabine |title=Atlas of Animal Bones - Tierknochenatlas |publisher=Emono |url=https://emono.unibas.ch/emono/catalog/book/74 |language=en |doi=10.21255/978-3-033-09560-1|isbn=9783033095601 }}</ref> She co-founded the Swiss Archaeological Society with Rudolf Laur-Belart in 1953.<ref name="Ogilvie" /> In 1987 she was made an honorary member of the Swiss Prehistoric Society.<ref name="Ogilvie" />
In the 1980s, Schmid became involved with the prehistoric ivory sculpture known as the Lion-man. It was first discovered in 1939 in a cave in southwestern Germany by Otto Völzing. Around 30 percent of the statue is missing, and its gender is heavily disputed. German archaeologist Joachim Hahn interpreted part of the statue as representing male genitalia; however, Schmid later interpreted the same part of the statue as a pubic triangle.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Schulz|first1=Matthias|title=Is the Lion Man a Woman?: Solving the Mystery of a 35,000-Year-Old Statue|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/is-the-lion-man-a-woman-solving-the-mystery-of-a-35-000-year-old-statue-a-802415.html|website=Spiegel Online|accessdate=10 October 2017|date=9 December 2011}}</ref> Further restoration of the statue began in autumn 1987 by Schmid and restorer Ute Wolf.<ref>{{cite web|title=Die Entdeckung des Löwenmenschen|url=http://www.loewenmensch.de/entdeckung_1987.html|website=www.loewenmensch.de|accessdate=10 October 2017}}</ref>
Schmid died on 27 March 1994.<ref name=Ogilvie />
==References== {{reflist}} == External links == * [https://emono.unibas.ch/emono/catalog/view/74/65/746 Tierknochenatlas] (digital edition)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmid, Elisabeth}} Category:1912 births Category:1994 deaths Category:Archaeologists from Baden-Württemberg Category:German women archaeologists Category:University of Freiburg alumni