MORE ABOUT LAWRENCE
IN MEMORIAM: DR GEOFFREY TASSIE (1959-2019)
Geoffrey “Tass” Tassie came late to the field, yet by the time of his death he was known all over the world as a major force in Egyptian archaeology. He had been a celebrity hairdresser during what he called the ‘roaring 80s’, but a holiday to Egypt in the early 90s prompted a love affair with that ancient country that was to possess him for the rest of his life. He did a certificate, B.A., M.A. and Ph.D., created a new research field that he called palaeoethnotrichology (the study of ancient hairstyles), and went on to hold research/teaching posts at SOAS, the University of Winchester and the Freie Universitat, Berlin. Particularly known for his work on the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods, he became increasingly concerned with the care and preservation of Egyptian cultural heritage, co-founding the Egyptian Cultural Heritage Organisation (ECHO) in collaboration with Professor Fekri Hassan. His reputation led him to a curatorial position at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo shortly before he died, in charge of the world’s most important Predynastic and Early Dynastic archaeological collections.
I first met him in 1999, worked with him on various books and papers, excavated with him in Egypt, and was his housemate for the last eight years of his life. He was always the life and soul of every party, while becoming increasingly engrossed in his subject, piling the house with heaps of books and papers, switching on his laptop at 7 in the morning, and falling asleep over it at 11 each night. Egyptology was his greatest love; in her service he drove himself on mercilessly, maybe too hard. By the time he died in Spring 2019 he was known all over the world not just for his academic abilities, but for his tenacity, his intense loyalty, his kindness, and the quiet, unshakeable principles that lay beneath his perpetual joie de vivre. His friends and I are continuing his work as his favourite site – Kafr Hassan Dawood – and in running ECHO. He remains forever in our thoughts.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/apr/10/geoffrey-tassie-obituary
IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR DEAR FRIEND Adam Burr (1951-2020)
Adam was in the first bioarchaeology class I ever taught, and went on to become guide, philosopher and friend. A City Boy by training, he was an archaeologist by vocation and took up bones studies with me as he neared retirement, going on to work with me on a number of important archaeological sites at home and abroad: he was the embodiment of one of my favourite quotes – it is never too late to be who you might have been. By the time I met him he had been ill for some time, and he was determined to fill every unforgiving minute. The time he didn't fill with work was filled with good food, good wine, good books, good company, good travel, cycling, archaeology, history and myriad other passions. He had an excruciating eye for detail, numbers and exactitude, so he really suited the minutiae of dental anthropology, in which he excelled. He accompanied me to Pachacamac in Peru, where he made a name for himself with his gentle class of British eccentricity, stopping for tea and shortbread in mid-excavation, in a dreadful floppy hat and clothes that should have been recycled years ago. He was also one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met. The world is a poorer place for his passing.
REMEMBERING LYN HOLLYER 1941-2016
Lyn joined my first bioarchaeology class in 2004, as did Adam, yet while they went on to become firm friends, they couldn’t have been more different. Lyn had had an astonishingly colourful life, a remarkably turbulent 1960’s, lived in a commune, travelled all over the world, and ended up in West London where she became a teacher and lecturer. A long-term cancer survivor, she joined me on a series of digs including the site of Pachacamac in Peru and was an excellent assistant in teaching and fieldwork alike. She was extremely funny, quirky, and good company. She is sorely missed.
Lyn Hollyer (1941-2016)
