Ralph Solecki

Ralph Stefan Solecki (October 15, 1917 – March 20, 2019) was an American archaeologist.^[1] Solecki was born in Brooklyn, New York in October 1917,^[2] the son of Polish immigrants – Mary (nee Tarnowska), a homemaker, and Casimir, an insurance salesman.^[3]

Ralph Solecki
Ralph Solecki statue at Shanidar Cave archaeological Park
Born	(1917-10-15)October 15, 1917 Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Died	March 20, 2019(2019-03-20) (aged 101) Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Archaeologist
Spouse	Rose Solecki
Relatives	John Solecki, William Solecki (sons)

Solecki graduated from the City College of New York in 1942. He then served in the US Army in Europe and was wounded when he stepped on a land mine. After the war he did his graduate work at Columbia University.^[4]

From 1959 to 1988, he was a member of the faculty at Columbia University. His best-known excavations were at the Neanderthal site at Shanidar Cave, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. His publications include early works on aerial photography and photo-interpretation as well as two volumes on Shanidar (1971, 1972).

He was married to fellow archaeologist Rose Solecki, and they were the parents of American geographer William Solecki and UNHCR official John Solecki. In 2013, he was interviewed about his work by The Wall Street Journal.^[5] He died in March 2019, at the age of 101.^[3][6]

See also

• List of fossil sites (with link directory)
• List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)