# Roger Mercer

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{{Short description|British archaeologist (1944–2018)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
'''Roger James Mercer''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|OBE|FSA}} [HonFSAScot](/source/Fellow_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_Scotland) (12 September 1944 – 3 December 2018)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://announcements.johnstonpress.co.uk/obituaries/scotsman-uk/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=190919419|title=Roger James MERCER (Obituary)|date=6 December 2018|work=[The Scotsman](/source/The_Scotsman)|access-date=6 December 2018}}</ref> was a British [archaeologist](/source/archaeologist) whose work concentrated on the [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic) and [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) of the [British Isles](/source/British_Isles).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Murrray |first=Diana |last2=Ralston |first2=Ian |date=2019-11-01 |title=Professor Roger James Mercer |url=https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/view/10267 |journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |language=en |volume=148 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.9750/PSAS.148.0003 |issn=2056-743X}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Between 1970 and 1973 he led the excavations at [Carn Brea](/source/Carn_Brea%2C_Redruth) in [Cornwall](/source/Cornwall).<ref>{{cite web|title=Carn Brea, Early Neolithic tor enclosure, c 3700 BC|url=http://www.royalarchinst.org/jubilee/cas|website=Royal Archaeology Society|access-date=4 January 2015}}</ref> and then went on to direct the excavations at [Hambledon Hill](/source/Hambledon_Hill) and [Grimes Graves](/source/Grimes_Graves), a Neolithic flint mine.

An alumnus of the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh), graduating with MA Honours in Archaeology (1967), he became a lecturer there in 1974, was promoted to Reader in 1982 and was appointed Acting Head of Archaeology (1982–87).

He was elected a [Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries](/source/Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London) in November 1977<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Fellows Remembered|journal=Salon|volume=419}}</ref> and was an Honorary Fellow and past President of the [Society of Antiquaries of Scotland](/source/Society_of_Antiquaries_of_Scotland).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Professor Roger Mercer OBE, MA, FSA, FRSE, HonFSA Scot, HonMCIfA {{!}} Society of Antiquaries of Scotland|url=https://www.socantscot.org/uncategorised/professor-roger-mercer-obe-ma-fsa-frse-honfsa-scot-honmcifa/|access-date=2021-12-03|language=en}}</ref>

From 1990 to 2004 he was Secretary of the [Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland](/source/Royal_Commission_on_the_Ancient_and_Historical_Monuments_of_Scotland) (RCAHMS).<ref>[The Glasgow Herald](/source/The_Glasgow_Herald), 18 August 1989, page 7</ref> He retired in 2004 but retained ties with the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh)'s [School of History, Classics and Archaeology](/source/University_of_Edinburgh_School_of_History%2C_Classics_and_Archaeology), where he was an Honorary Professorial Fellow, until his death in 2018.

Mercer was appointed [Officer of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Officer_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (OBE) in the [2004 New Year Honours](/source/2004_New_Year_Honours) for services to archaeology.

==Selected works==
{{scholia|author}}
He published widely on prehistoric Britain including:

*''Hambledon Hill: A Neolithic Landscape'', Edinburgh University Press, 1980
*''Farming Practice in British Prehistory'', Edinburgh University Press, 1981
*''Hambledon Hill, Dorset, England: Excavation and survey of a Neolithic Monument Complex and its Surrounding Landscape, Volume 1'' with [Frances Healy](/source/Frances_Healy_(archaeologist)), English Heritage Archaeological Monographs, 2008

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal|last=Mercer|first=Roger J.|date=2006|title=From Digger to Director, Cornwall to Caithness|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/from-digger-to-director-cornwall-to-caithness/E16FA68BB31C731F3DFC7AB7979407E3|journal=Antiquity|volume=80|issue=310|pages=987–995|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00094576|s2cid=162787341 |url-access=subscription}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Roger}}
Category:1944 births
Category:2018 deaths
Category:British archaeologists
Category:People educated at Harrow High School
Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Category:People associated with the University of Edinburgh School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London

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