Philip Ainsworth Means

Philip Ainsworth Mines (1892–1944) was an American anthropologist and historian. He was best known for his study of South America, especially Peru. Mins made a total of 5 long trips to Peru, where he studied the Incas in the Cuzco region, published several books, led excavations, and served as director of the Peruvian National Museum of Archeology. His book Ancient Andean Civilization was one of the first to explain the history and culture of the Incas. His works include The History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and Itza (1917), The Fall of the Inca Empire and Spanish Government in Peru, 1530–1780 (1932), The Spanish Main: Focus of Envy, 1492–1700 (1935). ), as well as a publication on the Newport Tower on Rhode Island (1942). Philip Ainsworth Mines was born in 1892 in Boston to the parents of James and Helen Goodell. He graduated from Harvard in 1915 and received a master's degree in art from this institute the following year. His research was directed to Latin America, in particular to Peru, and combined archeology, history and literature. His formal studies at the university were complemented by extensive travels and studies at museums and archives. In 1934, he married Miss Louise Munroe, who accompanied him during his later travels and assisted him in his school publications.