# Jack Golson

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jack_Golson
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jack_Golson.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Golson
> Source revision: 1338528434
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{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](/source/Vailele), north coast of [Upolu](/source/Upolu) island in [Samoa](/source/Samoa), 1957. Visiting the site are members of the [I'iga Pisa](/source/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](/source/Melanesia), [Polynesia](/source/Polynesia) and [Micronesia](/source/Micronesia).

==Life and career==
Jack Golson was born in [Rochdale](/source/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](/source/University_of_Cambridge). 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](/source/University_of_Auckland) in New Zealand where he began studies on pre-history in the [Pacific Islands](/source/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](/source/Savai'i) island in [Samoa](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Papua_New_Guinea). He was the president of the [World Archaeological Congress](/source/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](/source/1997_Queen's_Birthday_Honours_(Australia)) Golson was appointed [Officer of the Order of Australia](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/History_of_Papua_New_Guinea)
*[Archaeology in Samoa](/source/Archaeology_in_Samoa)
*[History of Tonga](/source/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

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jack Golson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Golson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Golson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.