J. Franklin Ewing (October 14, 1905 - May 21, 1968) was an American Catholic priest and anthropologist and director of research services at Fordham University.
Ewing accepted the science of evolution but argued that God had a direct and primary role in the process. Ewing was co-director of an archeological excavation at Ksar Akil in 1948 that unearthed a cranium from a 20,000 year old child that he named "Egbert".
Ksar Akil (also Ksar 'Akil or Ksar Aqil) is an archeological site 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Beirut in Lebanon. It is located about 800 m (2,600 ft) west of Antelias spring on the north bank of the northern tributary of the Wadi Antelias. It is a large rock shelter below a steep limestone cliff.
It was first noticed by Godefroy Zumoffen in 1900 and first studied by A. E. Day in 1926 then first systematically excavated by J.G. Doherty, S.J., and J.F. Ewing, S.J., in 1937–1938 and again in 1947–1948, then later by Jacques Tixier in 1969–1975 before research was interrupted by the Lebanese Civil War.