Don Brothwell

Donald Reginald Brothwell, (1933 – 26 September 2016) was a British archaeologist, anthropologist and academic, who specialised in human palaeoecology and environmental archaeology. He had worked at the University of Cambridge, the British Museum, and the Institute of Archaeology of University of London, before ending his career as Professor of Human Palaeoecology at the University of York. He has been described as "one of the pioneers in the field of archaeological science". Early life and education Brothwell was born in 1933 in Nottingham, England. He began his involvement in archaeology as a teenager; this included analysing finds from a local gravel works, and excavating Anglo-Saxon skeletons at a local quarry with some school friends. He was involved in his first official archaeological excavation in Thurgarton, Nottinghamshire, where they excavated and recorded a number of medieval burials. Having finished secondary school, he enrolled in art college with the aim of becoming a teacher. However, after a year he returned to school to study for A-Levels in geology, biology, and chemistry. Having earned three A-Levels, Brothwell was offered a place at University College London to study anthropology. However, as he had completed his A-Levels a year later than most, at 19, he was immediately called up to serve his National Service. With his interests in Quakerism and knowledge of his father's experience of World War I, he became a conscientious objector. He was prosecuted and ordered to pay a large fine (for which his father provided the money), but was called up for a second time after settling with the court. This time his refusal resulted in a prison sentence which he served at HM Prison Lincoln. He continued his interest in archaeology while imprisoned, including excavating a bulldog skull that he found in the yard during his daily exercise. Brothwell only served two months of a one-year sentence and was released in time to take up his place at University College London. From 1952 to 1956, while based in the Department of Anthropology, he studied a wide range of courses; these were mainly anthropology or archaeology related, but he also studied geology, zoology, and genetics. He graduated in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree. He then began a doctorate in physical anthropology, but he left without completing it after two years of research to take up his first academic position.