# Ralph Solecki > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ralph_Solecki > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ralph_Solecki.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Solecki > Source revision: 1356858474 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American archaeologist (1917–2019)}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Ralph Solecki | image = Ralph Solecki.jpg | alt = | caption = Ralph Solecki statue at [Shanidar Cave](/source/Shanidar_Cave) archaeological Park | other_names = | birth_date = {{birth date|1917|10|15}} | birth_place = [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn), [New York City](/source/New_York_City), U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|03|20|1917|10|15}} | death_place = [Livingston, New Jersey](/source/Livingston%2C_New_Jersey), U.S. | occupation = Archaeologist | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = [Rose Solecki](/source/Rose_Solecki) | relatives = [John Solecki](/source/John_Solecki), William Solecki (sons) }} '''Ralph Stefan Solecki''' (October 15, 1917 – March 20, 2019) was an American archaeologist. Solecki was born in [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn), New York, in October 1917, the son of Polish immigrants: Mary ({{nee|Tarnowska}}), a homemaker; and Casimir, an insurance salesman. Solecki graduated from the [City College of New York](/source/City_College_of_New_York) in 1942. He then served in the U.S. Army in Europe and was wounded when he stepped on a land mine. After the war he did his graduate work at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University).{{cite web|url=https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/paleoanthropology/chapter/ralphsolecki/|publisher=Virginia Tech|title=Ralph Solecki (1917-2019)|last=Goodrum|first=Matthew|date=2022|access-date=April 7, 2025}} From 1959 to 1988, he was a member of the faculty at Columbia University. His best-known excavations were at the [Neanderthal](/source/Neanderthal) site at [Shanidar Cave](/source/Shanidar_Cave), in the Kurdistan Region of [Iraq](/source/Iraq). His publications include early works on aerial photography and [photo-interpretation](/source/photo-interpretation) as well as two volumes on Shanidar (1971, 1972). He was married to fellow archaeologist [Rose Solecki](/source/Rose_Solecki), and they were the parents of American geographer [William Solecki](/source/William_Solecki) and [UNHCR](/source/United_Nations_High_Commissioner_for_Refugees) official [John Solecki](/source/John_Solecki). In 2013, he was interviewed about his work by ''[The Wall Street Journal](/source/The_Wall_Street_Journal)''. He died on March 20, 2019, at the age of 101. == See also == * [List of fossil sites](/source/List_of_fossil_sites) ''(with link directory)'' * [List of hominina (hominid) fossils](/source/List_of_hominina_fossils) ''(with images)'' ==References== {{Reflist|refs= {{cite book |last=Mead |first=Margaret |title=Anthropologists and what they do |year=1965 |publisher=F. Watts |page=178 }} {{cite news |url= https://archaeology.columbia.edu/2019/05/11/30953/ |title= In Memory of Ralph Solecki (1917-2019) |work= [Columbia Center for Archeology](/source/Columbia_Center_for_Archeology) |date= May 11, 2019}} {{cite news |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323936404578581582780360790 |title= Archeologist Ralph Solecki Recalls His Neanderthal Cave Discovery |work= [The Wall Street Journal](/source/The_Wall_Street_Journal) |date= July 11, 2013 }} {{cite news |url= https://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2019/03/87032/archeologist-ralph-solecki-remembered-as-pioneer-of-north-fork-history/ |title= Archeologist Ralph Solecki remembered as 'pioneer' of North Fork history |first= Steve |last= Wick |work= Suffolk Times |date= March 29, 2019 |archive-date= March 30, 2019 |access-date= March 30, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190330163106/https://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2019/03/87032/archeologist-ralph-solecki-remembered-as-pioneer-of-north-fork-history/ |url-status= dead }} {{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/obituaries/ralph-solecki-dead.html |title= Ralph Solecki, Who Found Humanity in Neanderthals, Dies at 101 |first= Sam |last= Roberts |work= [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |date= April 11, 2019 }} }} ==External links== *Matthew R. Goodrum: "Ralph Solecki." In: ''Biographical Dictionary of the History of Paleoanthropology''. Edited by Matthew R. Goodrum. (2020) Available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uR944nQWfZrH_2vL0yjwoqUs5MI6sifU/view *[http://archaeology.about.com/od/archaeologistss/g/soleckirs.htm Ralph Stefan Solecki (b. 1917)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051020173732/http://archaeology.about.com/od/archaeologistss/g/soleckirs.htm |date=2005-10-20 }} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Solecki, Ralph}} Category:1917 births Category:2019 deaths Category:20th-century American archaeologists Category:American expatriates in Iraq Category:American people of Polish descent Category:Columbia University faculty Category:American men centenarians {{US-archaeologist-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ralph Solecki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Solecki) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Solecki?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.