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Vaillant, George Clapp (1901-1945) Born in Boston and educated at Phillips Academy (Andover) and Harvard University (A.B., 1922; Ph.D., 1927), Vaillant was one of the outstanding Mesoamerican archaeologists of his generation. He began his career with major contributions to the study of Maya ceramics. He later carried out a decade of important excavations in the Basin of Mexico that resulted in precise definitions of a cultural chronology for that region (1941). He was on the staff of the American Museum of Natural History from 1927 until 1941, and was director of the University Museum (Philadelphia) from 1941 until his death.