José Maria Cruxent (January 16, 1911 – February 23, 2005) was a professional archaeologist considered to be the "Father of Scientific Archaeology" in Venezuela.

Cruxent was a student in archaeology at the University of Barcelona until the Spanish Civil War cut short his academic career in 1939.

He extended the archaeological evidence for human presence in South America backward into the Late Pleistocene epoch.

[2] It was at Taima-Taima that he discovered El Jobo projectile points and other stone artifacts dating to as early as 13,000 B.P., a major discovery in Paleoindian archaeology.

[3] Cruxent was later asked to excavate La Isabella, the first Spanish settlement, as well as the tomb of Christopher Columbus in the Ciudad Colonial de Santo Domingo.