John G. Owens (27 September 1865 – 18 February 1893) was an American archaeologist who specialized inMayan culture, and who also published ethnological studies on thePueblo Indians of theAmerican Southwest.

He was born inLewisburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated fromBucknell University in 1887. He received hismaster's degree fromHarvard, and was the holder of theHemenway Fellowship while he completed hisdoctorate under ProfessorFrederic Ward Putnam.^[1]

In 1892 Owens led theHarvard Peabody Museum's expedition to the Mayan city ofCopán, Honduras, which began the excavation of the "Hieroglyphic Stairway" there.^[2][3] Unfortunately, prior to the completion of work, he was incapacitated by fever and died at Copán in 1893, where he is buried.

The John G. Owens Fellowship in Mesoamerican Archaeology was established at Harvard's Peabody Museum in his memory.

• Owens, John G. (1891)."Some Games of the Zuni".Popular Science Monthly.39:39–50.
• Owens, John G. (1892). "Natal Ceremonies of the Hopi Indians".Journal American Ethnology and Archaeology.2:161–175.

• "Photos: John G. Owens". Dr. Antonio Rafael de la Cova (Latin American Studies).Archived from the original on 23 November 2012.

• 1865 births
• 1893 deaths
• American archaeologists
• Bucknell University alumni
• Harvard University alumni
• People from Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
• American ethnologists

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2017