{{short description|American archaeologist (1925–2019)}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Rose Solecki | image = | alt = | caption = | other_names = | birth_name = Rose Muriel Lilien | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1925|11|18}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Archaeologist | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = Ralph Solecki | relatives = John Solecki, William Solecki (sons) }}
'''Rose L. Solecki''' (born November 18, 1925) is an American archaeologist, who worked with her husband Ralph Solecki on excavations in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Sudan.
== Early life == Rose Muriel Lilien was born in New York City, the daughter of Israel Lilien and Anna Muchel Lilien. Her father was born in Poland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.com/1940-census/rose-lilien-ny-62796368?FirstName=Rose&LastName=Lilien&Location=NJ&folderImageSeq=28|title=Rose Lilien from Assembly District 22 Manhattan|website=1940 Census District 31-1884|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref> Her brothers Harry and Sidney were baseball card collectors before World War II.<ref>Vrechek, George (2007). [http://oldbaseball.com/m/refs/Harry_Lilien.pdf "Harry Lilien (1922-2007), Pioneer Collector"] ''Sports Collectors Digest''.</ref> She earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Hunter College in 1945, and her master's and doctoral degrees from Columbia University.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://sova.si.edu/record/NAA.2016-29|title=Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki papers · SOVA|last=Kamph|first=Molly|website=National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref> While she was a graduate student at Columbia, she participated in archaeological excavations in Arizona under the supervision of Emil W. Haury,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42583797/diggers_must_be_people_toosally_dixon/|title=Diggers Must Be People Too|last=Dixon|first=Sally|date=1947-07-29|work=Tucson Citizen|access-date=2020-01-19|pages=5|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FSWTCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Ralph+Solecki%22+widow&pg=PA26|title=Point of Pines: A History of the University of Arizona Archaeological Field School|last=Haury|first=Emil W.|date=2015-11-01|publisher=University of Arizona Press|isbn=978-0-8165-3313-8|pages=26|language=en}}</ref> and in Peru under the supervision of William Duncan Strong.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wMt5dpmouW4C&q=Rose+M.+Lilien&pg=PA54|title=Cahuachi in the Ancient Nasca World|last=Silverman|first=Helaine|publisher=University of Iowa Press|isbn=978-1-58729-471-6|pages=54, 203|language=en}}</ref> She wrote ''A Study of Central Andean Ceramic Figurines'' (1981) based on her doctoral research.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fFeCtwEACAAJ|title=A Study of Central Andean Ceramic Figurines|last=Lilien|first=Rose Muriel|date=1981|publisher=Columbia University|language=en}}</ref>
== Career == [[File:Shanidar Cave - overview.jpg|thumb|Shanidar Cave in Iraq, site of the Soleckis' archaeological work in the 1950s and 1960s.]] Rose Solecki joined her husband's excavation of the Shanidar cave sites in Iraq between 1956 and 1960.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=daqEAgAAQBAJ&q=%22Rose+L.+Solecki%22&pg=PA51|title=The Near East: Archaeology in the 'Cradle of Civilization'|last=Maisels|first=Charles Keith|date=2005-10-24|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-66468-9|pages=51|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-skeletons-of-shanidar-cave-7028477/|title=The Skeletons of Shanidar Cave|last=Edwards|first=Owen|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref> The sites contained rich evidence of Neanderthal life,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42584350/cave_relics_tell_of_modern_man/|title=Cave Relics Tell of 'Modern' Man|date=1961-04-01|work=The Spokesman-Review|access-date=2020-01-19|pages=12|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> including several complete skeletons.<ref>{{Cite news|title=New Light is Shed on Neaderthals|last=Plumb|first=Robert K.|date=October 9, 1960|work=The New York Times|page=16|id={{ProQuest|<!-- Add ProQuest data here -->}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42584513/3_skeletons_45000_years_old_unearthed/|title=3 Skeletons 45,000 Years Old Unearthed|date=1960-10-06|work=The Indianapolis Star|access-date=2020-01-19|pages=34|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> They also had archaeological projects in Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Sudan. Until Ralph Solecki's retirement in 1990, she was a research associate affiliated with Columbia University; from 1990 to 2000, Rose Solecki was Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Texas A&M University.<ref name=":0" />
The Soleckis co-authored many scholarly articles, and ''The Proto-Neolithic Cemetery in Shanidar Cave'' (2004, with Anagnostis P. Agelarakis), based on their years of work in Iraq.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bSVZKJQ5GmIC&q=Rose+Solecki|title=The Proto-Neolithic Cemetery in Shanidar Cave|last1=Solecki|first1=Ralph S.|last2=Solecki|first2=Rose L.|last3=Agelarakis|first3=Anagnostis P.|date=2004|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-1-58544-272-0|language=en}}</ref> Rose Solecki also wrote ''Tepe Seavan, a Dalma Period Site in the Margavar Valley, Azerbaijan, Iran'' (1973)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaoiswEACAAJ|title=Tepe Seavan, a Dalma Period Site in the Margavar Valley, Azerbaijan, Iran|last=Solecki|first=Rose L.|date=1973|language=en}}</ref> and ''An Early Village Site at Zawi Chemi Shanidar'' (1981).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWmBAAAAMAAJ|title=An early village site at Zawi Chemi Shanidar|last=Solecki|first=Rose L.|date=1981|publisher=Undena Publications|isbn=978-0-89003-068-4|language=en}}</ref>
== Personal life == Rose married Ralph Solecki in 1955.<ref>{{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|last=Roberts|first=Sam|date=2019-04-11|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-19|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> They had two sons, John Solecki (a United Nations official)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2009/2/49a2d9122/mother-calls-release-abducted-unhcr-staff-member.html|title=Mother calls for release of abducted UNHCR staff member|last=Redden|first=Jack|date=February 23, 2009|website=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|language=en|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42584168/kidnappers_release_north_jersey/|title=Kidnappers Release North Jersey Native|last=Akin|first=Stephanie|date=2009-04-05|work=The Herald-News|access-date=2020-01-19|pages=A10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and William Solecki (a geography professor).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42586611/city_hot_spots_rooted_in_lack_of/|title=City hot spots rooted in lack of cooling trees|last=Diskin|first=Colleen|date=2003-08-09|work=The Record|access-date=2020-01-19|pages=1|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Ralph Solecki died in 2019, aged 101 years. The Soleckis' papers, and a 2018 oral history with both of them,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://si-siris.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-year-in-review-ralph-s-and-rose-l.html|title=A Year-in-Review: The Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki Papers and Artifacts Project|last=Emily|date=2018-06-05|website=Smithsonian Collections Blog|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref> are archived in the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.<ref name=":0" /> Columbia University gives an annual Ralph and Rose Solecki Award, for an archaeology student chosen by the faculty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archaeology.columbia.edu/undergraduate/faq/|title=Ralph and Rose Solecki Award|website=Columbia Center for Archaeology|date=30 November 2018|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}} * {{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Solecki, Rose}} Category:1925 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American archaeologists Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Hunter College alumni Category:American women archaeologists Category:American expatriates in Iraq Category:21st-century American women Category:20th-century American women Category:21st-century American archaeologists