Golson, Jack (1926 - 2023)

Summary

Jack Golson is an archaeologist who has played a significant and pioneering role in the development of archaeological studies in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. He was one of the first to recognise the relevance of ethnobotany and ecological studies to archaeology and to integrate them into his analysis of archaeological data from Australia and New Guinea. Much of his fieldwork was conducted in Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. As inaugural Professor of Prehistory at the Australian National University (ANU) Golson established one of Australia's most innovative and successful departments. He was a strong advocate for the establishment of a radiocarbon dating laboratory at ANU. Golson played a central role in the foundation and operations of professional organisations at both a national and local level. Golson has been a staunch supporter of the World Archaeological Congress since its inception in 1984, being President for 1990 to 1994; he and his wife Clare received the Congress's Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

Details

Chronology

1950

Education - BA (hons), University of Cambridge

1952

Education - Master of Arts (MA), University of Cambridge

1954

Career position - Founding Member, New Zealand Archaeological Association

1954 - 1961

Career position - Lecturer (later Senior Lecturer) in Prehistory, Department of Anthropology, Auckland University College (later University of Auckland)

1961 - 1969

Career position - Research Fellow in Prehistory, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University

1968 - 1987

Career position - Member, Working Party on Archaeology, Pacific Science Association

1969 - 1991

Career position - Foundation Professor of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University

1975 - 2023

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of the Humanities

1980 - 1985

Career position - President, Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association

1987 - 2002

Career position - Fellow, Society of Antiquaries, London

1990 - 1994

Career position - President, World Archaeological Congress

1991

Life event - Retired

1992

Award - Honorary Doctorate, University of Papua New Guinea

1993 -

Career position - Emeritus Professor, Australian National University

1997

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to education, particularly in the fields of prehistory and archaeological research in Asia and the Pacific region

2001

Award - Centenary Medal for service to Australian society and the humanities in the study of prehistory and archaeology

2002 - 2023

Award - Life Member, Australian Archaeological Association

2009

Award - World Archaeological Congress Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award with Clare Golson

Related entries

Published resources

Book Sections

• Golson, Jack, 'The personality of New England: Isabel McBryde and the dimensions of her regional archaeology' in Many exchanges: archaeology, history, community and the work of Isabel McBryde, Macfarlane, Ingereth with Mountain, Mary-Jane and Paton, Robert, eds (Canberra: Aboriginal History Inc., 2005), pp. 13-34. Details
• Golson, Jack, 'Geddes, William Robert (1916 - 1989), anthropologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 17: 1981 - 1990 A-K, Diane Langmore, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2007), pp. 425-6. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/geddes-william-robert-bill-12529. Details
• Groube, L. M., '"Dig up those Moa bones": Golson in New Zealand, 1854 - 1961' in A community of culture: the people and prehistory of the Pacific, Spriggs, Matthew, Yen, Douglas E., Ambrose, Wal , Jones, Rhys, Thorne, Alan and Andrews, Ann, eds (Canberra: Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1993), pp. 6-17. Details
• Spriggs, Matthew and Jones, Rhys, 'Professor' in A community of culture: the people and prehistory of the Pacific, Spriggs, Matthew, Yen, Douglas E., Ambrose, Wal , Jones, Rhys, Thorne, Alan and Andrews, Ann, eds (Canberra: Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1993), pp. 27-31. Details
• Ucko, Peter J., 'Jack Golson: a personal appreciation of his institutional role' in A community of culture: the people and prehistory of the Pacific, Spriggs, Matthew, Yen, Douglas E., Ambrose, Wal , Jones, Rhys, Thorne, Alan and Andrews, Ann, eds (Canberra: Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1993), pp. 32-4. Details

Edited Books

• Howes, Hilary; Jones, Tristen; and Spriggs, Matthew eds, Uncovering Pacific pasts: histories of archaeology in Oceania (Canberra: ANU Press, 2022), 577 pp. http://doi.org/10.22459/UPP.2021. Details
• Mulvaney, D. J.; and Golson, J. eds, Aboriginal Man and Environment in Australia (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1971), 389 pp. Details
• Spriggs, Matthew; Yen, Douglas E.; Ambrose, Wal; Jones, Rhys; Thorne, Alan; and Andrews, Ann eds, A community of culture: the people and prehistory of the Pacific (Canberra: Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1993), 289 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Allen, Harry, 'Jack Golson, Roger Green and debates in New Zealand archaeology', Historical Records of Australian Science, 31 (2) (2020), 127-36. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR20002. Details
• Anon, 'Golson awarded AO', Australian archaeology, 45 (1997), 59. Details
• Denham, Tim and Ballard, Chris, 'Jack Golson and the investigation of prehistoric agriculture in highland New Guinea: recent work and future prospects', Archaeology in Oceania, 38 (3) (2003), 129-34. Details
• Golson, J., 'Old guards and new waves: reflections on antipodean archaeology 1954 - 1975. Papers presented to John Mulvaney', Archaeology in Oceania, 21 (1986), 2-12, https://doi.org10.1002/J.1834-4453.1986.TB00120.X. Details
• Golson, Jack, 'Rhys Maengwyn Jones (1941 - 2001)', Proceedings of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, 26 (2001). http://www.humanities.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/AAH-Obit-Jones-2001.pdf. Details
• Golson, Jack, 'Susan Bulmer, an archaeological pioneer', Archaeology in Oceania, 51 (supp) (2016), 11-8. Details
• Kennedy, Jean, Ballard, Chris and Bedford, Stuart, 'Jack: Professor Jack Golson, AO, 1926 - 2023', Australian archaeology, 89 (3) (2023), 275-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/03122417.2023.2296745. Details

See also

• Who's who in Australia 2012 (Melbourne: Crown Content Pty Ltd, 2012), 2430 pp. Details
• Allen, Harry, 'The first university positions in prehistoric archaeology in New Zealand and Australia', Bulletin of the history of archaeology, 29 (1:2) (2019), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5334/bha-606. Details
• Howes, Hilary, 'Aspects of the historiography of Australian archaeology', Historical Records of Australian Science, 32 (2) (2021), 125-40. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR20017. Details