Virginia Watson

Virginia Drew Watson (17 June 1918 – 7 December 2007) was an American cultural anthropologist known for her extensive fieldwork among indigenous tribes in Brazil and Papua New Guinea. She conducted research among the Guarani-Kaiowás people in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and the Tairora and Gadsup tribes in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. In addition to her anthropological work, Watson had a keen interest in archaeology and contributed to the analysis of 25,000 artifacts excavated by J. David Cole, culminating in the publication of 'Prehistory of the Eastern Highlands of New Guinea'. Born in Tomah, Wisconsin, Watson earned a Ph.B. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.A. from the University of Chicago.