{{Short description|Archaeologist (1926–2023)}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}} [[File:F 2 076 227 Vailele excavation 1957 Jack Golson and I'iga Pisa family visiting site photographer unknown.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.27|Golson excavating in Vailele, north coast of Upolu island in Samoa, 1957. Visiting the site are members of the I'iga Pisa family.]]
'''Jack Golson''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AO}} (13 September 1926 – 2 September 2023) was a British-born Australian archaeologist who carried out extensive field work in Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia.
==Life and career== Jack Golson was born in Rochdale, England on 13 September 1926.<ref>{{cite web |title=Birth registration |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?r=155904809:6004&d=bmd_1653949805 |website=FreeBMD |access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Spriggs |first=Matthew |last2=Ballard |first2=Chris |date=2025 |title=Jack Golson: A Life (13 September 1926–2 September 2023) |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00223344.2025.2521900 |journal=The Journal of Pacific History |doi=10.1080/00223344.2025.2521900 |issn=0022-3344|url-access=subscription }}</ref> His father worked in the administration of coal mines in the area.<ref name=":0" /> He studied history and archaeology as an undergraduate at Cambridge University. He began a PhD in medieval history at Cambridge in 1951.<ref name=":0" />
In 1954, he lectured at the archaeology department of Auckland University in New Zealand where he began studies on pre-history in the Pacific Islands.<ref name=":0" /> Golson also worked towards improving standards and methods of archaeology in New Zealand and organised the New Zealand Archaeological Association.<ref name="Kirch2000">{{cite book |author=Patrick Vinton Kirch |title=On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQ0ApgIOPtEC&pg=PR9 |date=24 May 2000 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-92896-1 |pages=9–}}</ref>
In 1957, he carried out the first systematic survey of archaeological remains on Savai'i island in Samoa.<ref name="tp">[http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_78_1969/Volume_78,_No._1/Settlement_patterns_in_Samoa_before_1840,_by_Janet_M._Davidson,_p_44_-_82/p1?action=null] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002144035/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_78_1969/Volume_78,_No._1/Settlement_patterns_in_Samoa_before_1840,_by_Janet_M._Davidson,_p_44_-_82/p1?action=null|date=2 October 2011}} Settlement Patterns in Samoa before 1840 by Janet M Davidson, The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. 78 1969, No. 1, p.44-82. Retrieved 1 November 2009</ref> In 1961, he was appointed Fellow in Prehistory at the Australian National University<ref name="BurkeSmith2004">{{cite book|author1=Heather Burke|author2=Claire Smith|title=The Archaeologist's Field Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NUMaEpgZZC8C&pg=PT1|year=2004|publisher=Allen & Unwin|isbn=978-1-86508-862-4|pages=1–}}</ref> and carried out research in Australia and Papua New Guinea. He was the president of the World Archaeological Congress (1990–1994).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldarchaeologicalcongress.org/site/about_pres.php |title=The World Archaeological Congress |access-date=11 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517184227/http://www.worldarchaeologicalcongress.org/site/about_pres.php |archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref>
In 1991, Golson retired after 30 years at the Australian National University. He became a visiting Fellow there while focusing his work on Papua New Guinea.<ref name="LaytonShennan2006">{{cite book|author1=Robert Layton|author2=Stephen Shennan|title=A Future for Archaeology: The Past in the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2CSMJu66KwC&pg=PP18|date=January 2006|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-1-84472-126-9|pages=18–}}</ref> In the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours Golson was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "service to education, particularly in the fields of pre-history and archaeology research in Asia and the Pacific Region".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/881261|title=Dr Jack Golson|last=|first=|date=|website=It's An Honour|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=11 April 2020}}</ref> In 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1126771|title=Jack Golson|last=|first=|date=|website=It's An Honour|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=11 April 2020}}</ref>
In 2002, he became a Life Member of the Australian Archaeological Association. In 2009 he, along with Clare Golson, was awarded the World Archaeological Congress Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref>{{cite web |title=Golson, Jack (1926 – ) |url=https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P006149b.htm |website=Encyclopaedia of Australian Science and Innovation |access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref>
Golson died on 2 September 2023, at the age of 96.<ref>{{cite news |title=Uncovering earlyagriculture in PNG: Jack Golson's great gift |url=https://www.postcourier.com.pg/uncovering-earlyagriculture-in-png-jack-golsons-great-gift/ |access-date=8 September 2023 |publisher=Papua New Guinea Post-Courier |date=8 September 2023}}</ref>
thumb|upright=2.00|Jack Golson at ANU in 1987 after receiving Terra Australis 12, 'Early Tongan Prehistory' by Jens Poulsen, from the printer.
==See also== *History of Papua New Guinea *Archaeology in Samoa *History of Tonga
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golson, Jack}} Category:1926 births Category:2023 deaths Category:English archaeologists Category:Historians of the Pacific Category:Academic staff of the University of Auckland Category:Australian archaeologists Category:New Zealand archaeologists Category:Officers of the Order of Australia