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, 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. His duties involved teaching biological anthropology, and his research was focused on physical anthropology, palaeopathology, human origins, and teeth.

In 1974, Brothwell founded the Journal of Archaeological Science; from 1974 to 1993, he served as its Joint-Editor. From 1984 to 2004, he served as Editor of the Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology. As Emeritus Professor at University of York he continued to teach and supervise postgraduates.

Brothwell died on 26 September 2016, aged 83. On 7 October, his burial took place and a celebration of his life was held at the King's Manor in York (the main building of the University of York's Department of Archaeology). was edited by Keith Dobney and Terry O'Connor, and included contributions by Graeme Barker and Chris Stringer.

Selected works With A. T. Sandison (eds.) 1967. Diseases in Antiquity. Springfield: Thomas. With J. Baker. 1980. Animal Diseases in Archaeology. London: Academic Press. 1969. "The palaeopathology of Pleistocene and more recent mammals," pp 310–314. In Brothwell, D. and Higgs, E (eds.), Science in Archaeology. New York: Thames and Hudson. 1981. Digging up Bones. Third Edition. New York: Cornell University Press. 1988. "Smut, scab and pox: disease and environmental archaeology," pp273–277. In Bintliff, J.L., Davidson, D.A. and Grant, E.G. (eds.), Conceptual Issues in Environmental Archaeology. Edinburgh: University Press. 1988. "On zoonoses and their relevance to paleopathology," pp 18–22. In Ortner, D.J and Aufderheide, A.C (eds.). Human Paleopathology: Current Syntheses and Future Options. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. With K. Dobney. 1988. "A Scanning Electron Microscope Study of Archaeological Dental Calculus," pp 372–385. In Olsen, S.L (ed.) Scanning Electron Microscopy in Archaeology. British Archaeological Reports International Series 452. Oxford: BAR. 1991. "Malocclusion and methodology: The problem and relevance of dental malalignment in animals." International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 1: 27–37. 1993. "Avian osteopathology and its evaluation." Archaeofauna 2: 33–43. With K. Dobney, and A. Ervynck. 1996. "On the causes of perforations in archaeological domestic cattle skulls." International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 6: 471–487. 2000. "On the complex nature of microbial ecodynamics in relation to earlier human palaeoecology," in G. Bailey, R. Charles and N. Winder (eds) Human ecodynamics 2000. "Studies on skeletal and dental variation: a view across two centuries," in M. Cox and S. Mays (eds) Human osteology in archaeology and forensic science 2002. "Ancient avian osteopetrosis: the current state of knowledge. Proceedings of the 4th Meeting of the ICAZ Bird Working Group Kraków, Poland, 11–15 September 2001." Acta zoologica cracoviensia 45 (special issue): 315–318.