09/14/2026
Honoring Richard H. Meadow (Oct 23, 1946 - July 10, 2026)
by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
Richard H. Meadow, a longstanding member of the AIPS community and Trustee for Harvard University passed away, on July 10, 2026. Richard Meadow began his archaeological and zooarchaeological field research in Pakistan in the 1970s. He worked at the site of Balakot, Baluchistan with Dr. George F. Dales from the University of California, Berkeley and also at the site of Mehrgarh, Baluchistan with Dr. J.-F. Jarrige and the French Archaeological Mission to Pakistan. He was an outstanding archaeologist, with excavation experience at the site of Tepe Yahya in Iran and other sites in Oman and Syria. But his main specialty was the analysis of faunal remains, the bones of domestic and wild animals, including birds, fish and even rodents. In order to better study the ancient bones he also collected bones of modern fauna for comparison with the ancient faunal remains. Because of his rigorous studies he was able to provide new models for understanding the domestication of cattle, sheep and goats in the borderlands of the Indus River Valley during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, >5000 BCE.
In 1986 he joined the Harappa Archaeological Research Project that was directed by Dr. Dales and me. At Harappa he continued with the studies of Indus fauna, both domestic and wild. He and his many students both from the US and Pakistan undertook a wide range of studies related to the faunal remains at Harappa. These studies provided new models for understanding the role of cattle and water buffalo in the economy of early farming communities like Mehrgarh and later urban centers such as Harappa. After the untimely passing of Dr. Dales in 1992, Richard Meadow joined me as co-director of the Harappa Project and continued in this capacity until his own passing in July.
Dr. Meadow was an active member of the AIPS community and participated in numerous conferences and workshops that were sponsored by AIPS in Islamabad, Harappa and Madison. Richard was always supportive of colleagues and students and made a special effort to help train Pakistani students in the many different aspects of archaeological and zooarchaeological research. Richard will be remembered for his generosity and support as well as his commitment to rigorous scientific research.
Photo caption: Richard Meadow presenting at the Conference on Archaeology and Conservation in Pakistan and India in 2014, Madison WI.
