Roger Jacobi

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Roger Michael Jacobi
Born(1947-02-16)16 February 1947
Baguley Award (2004)
Academic background
EducationJesus College, Cambridge
ThesisAspects of the post-Glacial archaeology of England (1975)
Academic work
DisciplineArchaeology
Sub-discipline
  • Palaeolithic archaeology
  • Mesolithic archaeology
Institutions

Roger Michael Jacobi (16 February 1947 – 9 December 2009) was a British archaeologist specialising in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Britain. Known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of British prehistory, Jacobi authored several key synthetic volumes and worked to catalogue, sequence and reanalyse collections from across Britain and northwestern Europe. Sections of his extensive personal archive were posthumously published as the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Artefact (PaMELA) database.[1] He studied archaeology at Jesus College, Cambridge, and held positions at Lancaster University, the University of Nottingham, and the British Museum.

Education and career

Jacobi was born in

Mesolithic Britain, as "a monumental and important piece of work that is unlikely to be matched in terms of its detail and broad sweep".[2] It was examined by Paul Mellars.[4]

After completing his doctorate, Jacobi taught Palaeolithic archaeology at Lancaster University and the University of Nottingham. He left Nottingham in 1994, first for a series of curatorial posts at the British Museum, then from 2001 a permanent research position with the 'Ancient Human Occupation of Britain' project.[2][3]

Research

Jacobi was known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of British prehistory.

National Monuments Record, and eventually only superseded with the posthumous publication of Jacobi's personal archive.[1]

Much of Jacobi's work involved reanalysing old collections. He discovered one of the two known

Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit to refine the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic chronology of the British Isles and northwestern Europe using the new method of ultrafiltration radiocarbon dating. This work led to several important results, including the dating of sequences from key Palaeolithic sites such as Geißenklösterle, Fumane, La Ferrassie, and Pataud.[2]

Jacobi was also active in field archaeology. He excavated at Gough's Cave between 1987 and 1992[4] and at Happisburgh from 2006 until his death.[8]

Honours and legacy

Jacobi's 2004 paper on the Late Upper Palaeolithic of

Baguley Award from the Prehistoric Society.[2] Higham described the paper as a "magnificent contribution [...] careful, methodical and hugely detailed; the product of years of careful observation and basic hard work."[4]

Jacobi died of cancer on 9 December 2009.[2] A memorial event was organised by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2010.[4] A volume in his memory, No Stone Unturned: Papers in Honour of Roger Jacobi,[9] edited by Nick Ashton and Claire Harris, was published by the Lithic Studies Society in 2015. Proceeds from the sale of the book were used to set up a Jacobi Bursary for members of the Lithic Studies Society.[10]

Jacobi maintained an extensive

card index of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites, collections, and artefacts. After his death, Wessex Archaeology conducted an English Heritage-funded project to digitise this archive as the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Artefact (PaMELA) database, published in 2014.[1][6] The physical archive, together with Jacobi's large collection of correspondence, notes, illustrations and photographs, is curated by the British Museum at Franks House.[6]

Selected publications

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.5284/1028201
    . Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Higham, Tom (2010). "Obituary: Roger M. Jacobi" (PDF). Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte. 19: 217–220.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Mullan, G. J. (2010). "Obituary – Roger Michael Jacobi" (PDF). Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelæological Society. 25 (1): 9–10.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Higham, T. F. G. "Roger M. Jacobi, 16th February 1947 – 9th December 2009: appreciation by Tom Higham". Antiquity. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  5. ^ Lord, Tom; Milner, Nicky (2009). "Roger Jacobi". Mesolithic Miscellany. 20 (2): 32.
  6. ^
    OCLC 909170396
    .
  7. ^ Wymer, J. J.; Bonsall, C. J., eds. (1977). Gazetteer of Mesolithic sites in England and Wales, with a Gazetteer of Upper Palaeolithic sites in England and Wales. CBA Research Report No. 20. Council for British Archaeology.
  8. ^ Ashton, Nick (2009). "Tribute to Roger Jacobi". Mesolithic Miscellany. 20 (2): 32–33.
  9. OCLC 909170396
    .
  10. ^ "Jacobi Bursary". The Lithic Studies Society. Retrieved 10 September 2019.

External links

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