John Wymer
Encyclopedia
Dr John James Wymer, was a British
archaeologist and one of the leading experts on the Palaeolithic period.
Born near Kew Gardens in Surrey
, Wymer was introduced to archaeology by his parents who would take him to gravel
pits to search for ancient sites. He trained as a teacher but spent his spare time pursuing his passion for archaeology and never took a formal qualification in the discipline. In 1948 he married is first wife, Paula May, with whom he had five children.
He made his name in the field in July 1955 when at the age of 27 and still working as an amateur, he found the third piece of the oldest human skull
in the British Isles while investigating the quarries at Swanscombe
in Kent
. This 400,000 year old piece fitted with two previously found fragments and is part of the skull of Swanscombe Man, who is now considered to be a specimen of homo heidelbergensis
.
In 1956 he took a job at Reading Museum which permitted him to devote more time to his enthusiastic lifelong interest in the study of handaxes and their makers. He helped redesign the galleries, wrote a description of the Moulsford
gold torc
and undertook an excavation at the classic Mesolithic
site at Thatcham
. In 1968 he published his first major work, Lower Palaeolithic Archaeology in Britain as represented by the Upper Thames Valley.
To gain wider experience Wymer, at the suggestion of the palaeontologist Louis Leakey
, approached Ronald Singer, an anatomist, about working in South Africa
. They worked together at Elandsfontein and Klasies River
. At Elandsfontein Wymer's excavation of Cutting 10 located a localised grouping dominated by 49 large sharp Acheulian bifaces after Singer had previously found the 'Saldanha Man' skull. With Ronald Singer, a South African then at the University of Chicago
, they exposed a remarkable stratigraphic
sequence of more than 20m thick at Klasies River
by digging a trench through the site. This spanned the entire Middle and Late Stone Age. He left South Africa suddenly in 1968.
On his return to England he worked at Hoxne
and Clacton. In 1976 he married his second wife, Mollie Spurling, after the dissolution of his first marriage in 1972. He lectured at the University of East Anglia
in Norwich
, writing The Palaeolithic Age (1982) and Palaeolithic Sites in East Anglia (1985). Later he worked for the Norfolk Archaeological Unit excavating sites from all periods.
In the 1990s, together with Wessex Archaeology
he was commissioned by English Heritage
to map and assess the known Palaeolithic sites across Britain. The published two volume The Lower Palaeolithic Occupation of Britain (1999) has become the key reference work for the period. Clive Gamble described it as archaeology's equivalent of Pevsener's
The Buildings of England in providing the foundation stone for future study in the field.
Just before his death, he was closely involved in discoveries at Pakefield
that put human occupation north of The Alps
back by 200,000 years to c. 700,000 BP.
He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
in 1963 and was also a Fellow of the British Academy
as well as Secretary of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History from 1977-84, a Vice-President from 1985 and its President from 2001. In 1998 a festschrift was published in his honour. In 2002 the British Academy awarded him its Clark Medal for Prehistoric Archaeology. His honorary doctorate was awarded by the University of Reading
in recognition of his decades of scholarship.
He is remembered by the archaeological community for his approachability, concision and enthusiasm as well as his exquisite technical drawings. Outside the field, he enjoyed real ale and playing the piano, with an especial fondness for the boogie-woogie
style of Jimmy Yancey
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
archaeologist and one of the leading experts on the Palaeolithic period.
Born near Kew Gardens in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, Wymer was introduced to archaeology by his parents who would take him to gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
pits to search for ancient sites. He trained as a teacher but spent his spare time pursuing his passion for archaeology and never took a formal qualification in the discipline. In 1948 he married is first wife, Paula May, with whom he had five children.
He made his name in the field in July 1955 when at the age of 27 and still working as an amateur, he found the third piece of the oldest human skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
in the British Isles while investigating the quarries at Swanscombe
Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a small town, part of the Borough of Dartford on the north Kent coast in England. It is part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.-Prehistory:...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. This 400,000 year old piece fitted with two previously found fragments and is part of the skull of Swanscombe Man, who is now considered to be a specimen of homo heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct species of the genus Homo which may be the direct ancestor of both Homo neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens. The best evidence found for these hominins date between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago. H...
.
In 1956 he took a job at Reading Museum which permitted him to devote more time to his enthusiastic lifelong interest in the study of handaxes and their makers. He helped redesign the galleries, wrote a description of the Moulsford
Moulsford
Moulsford is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire to the county of Oxfordshire, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire....
gold torc
Torc
A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...
and undertook an excavation at the classic Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
site at Thatcham
Thatcham
Thatcham is a town in Berkshire, England 3 miles east of Newbury and 15 miles west of Reading. It covers about and has a population of 23,000 people . This number has grown rapidly over the last few decades from 5,000 in 1951 and 7,500 in 1961.It lies on the River Kennet, the Kennet and Avon...
. In 1968 he published his first major work, Lower Palaeolithic Archaeology in Britain as represented by the Upper Thames Valley.
To gain wider experience Wymer, at the suggestion of the palaeontologist Louis Leakey
Louis Leakey
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey was a British archaeologist and naturalist whose work was important in establishing human evolutionary development in Africa. He also played a major role in creating organizations for future research in Africa and for protecting wildlife there...
, approached Ronald Singer, an anatomist, about working in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. They worked together at Elandsfontein and Klasies River
Klasies River Caves
The Klasies River Caves are a series of caves located to the east of the Klasies River mouth on the Tsitsikamma coast in the Humansdorp district of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The three main caves and two shelters at the base of a high cliff have revealed evidence of middle stone...
. At Elandsfontein Wymer's excavation of Cutting 10 located a localised grouping dominated by 49 large sharp Acheulian bifaces after Singer had previously found the 'Saldanha Man' skull. With Ronald Singer, a South African then at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, they exposed a remarkable stratigraphic
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
sequence of more than 20m thick at Klasies River
Klasies River Caves
The Klasies River Caves are a series of caves located to the east of the Klasies River mouth on the Tsitsikamma coast in the Humansdorp district of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The three main caves and two shelters at the base of a high cliff have revealed evidence of middle stone...
by digging a trench through the site. This spanned the entire Middle and Late Stone Age. He left South Africa suddenly in 1968.
On his return to England he worked at Hoxne
Hoxne
Hoxne is an anciently established village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about five miles east-southeast of Diss, Norfolk and one-half mile south of the River Waveney...
and Clacton. In 1976 he married his second wife, Mollie Spurling, after the dissolution of his first marriage in 1972. He lectured at the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, writing The Palaeolithic Age (1982) and Palaeolithic Sites in East Anglia (1985). Later he worked for the Norfolk Archaeological Unit excavating sites from all periods.
In the 1990s, together with Wessex Archaeology
Wessex Archaeology
Wessex Archaeology is one of the largest private archaeological organisations operating in the United Kingdom, based near Salisbury in Wiltshire.-Background:...
he was commissioned by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
to map and assess the known Palaeolithic sites across Britain. The published two volume The Lower Palaeolithic Occupation of Britain (1999) has become the key reference work for the period. Clive Gamble described it as archaeology's equivalent of Pevsener's
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
The Buildings of England in providing the foundation stone for future study in the field.
Just before his death, he was closely involved in discoveries at Pakefield
Pakefield
Pakefield is a suburb of the town of Lowestoft in the Waveney District of the English county of Suffolk. Pakefield is located around 2 miles south of the centre of the town. Although today it forms a suburb of the urban area of Lowestoft, it was until 1934 a village and parish in its own right....
that put human occupation north of The Alps
The Alps
The Alps is a 2007 American documentary film about the climbing of the north face of the Eiger in the Bernese Alps by John Harlin III, son of John Harlin who died on the same ascent 40 years earlier...
back by 200,000 years to c. 700,000 BP.
He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
in 1963 and was also a Fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
as well as Secretary of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History from 1977-84, a Vice-President from 1985 and its President from 2001. In 1998 a festschrift was published in his honour. In 2002 the British Academy awarded him its Clark Medal for Prehistoric Archaeology. His honorary doctorate was awarded by the University of Reading
University of Reading
The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...
in recognition of his decades of scholarship.
He is remembered by the archaeological community for his approachability, concision and enthusiasm as well as his exquisite technical drawings. Outside the field, he enjoyed real ale and playing the piano, with an especial fondness for the boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
style of Jimmy Yancey
Jimmy Yancey
James Edwards "Jimmy" Yancey was an African American boogie-woogie pianist, composer, and lyricist. One reviewer noted him as "one of the pioneers of this raucous, rapid-fire, eight-to-the-bar piano style"....
.
Sources
- Eastern Daily Press obituary
- Gamble, C, John Wymer IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
obituary p 38, 17 March 2006 - Daily Telegraph obituary
- Pitts, M, John Wymer Guardian obituary
See also
- The J.J.Wymer Archive
- List of fossil sites (with link directory)
- List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)