Education
In 1963 she completed her educational career in Anthropology with a Doctor of Philosophy.
In 1963 she completed her educational career in Anthropology with a Doctor of Philosophy.
She received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Radcliffe College in 1957. The next year she received a Master of Arts in the same field from Harvard University. They also worked on the nearby and related LoDaisKa Site between 1958-1960.
In the 1960s she defined the Picosa culture, an Archaic culture of people from three locations with interconnected artifacts and lifestyles.
lieutenant was named by Irwin-Williams for those areas: Pinto Basin (Principal Investigator), Cochise Tradition (Colorado) and San Jose (Société Anonyme), which all together is "Picosa". Irwin-Williams developed the sequence of Archaic culture for the Oshara Tradition, which followed the Picosa culture, during her work in the Arroyo Cuervo area of northwestern New Mexico.
Irwin contended that the Ancient Pueblo People, or Anasazi, developed, at least in part, from the Oshara. In 1962, Irwin-Williams led the team that first excavated the Hueyatlaco site in Mexico.
Cynthia Irwin-Williams was born April 14, 1936 in Denver, Colorado.
After a long chronic illness, Irwin-Williams died on June 15, 1990 in Reno, Nevada.