Gordon Hillman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gordon Hillman
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Gordon Hillman
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| Born | 20 July 1943 |
| Died | 1 July 2018 (aged 74) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Reading |
| Awards | Distinguished Economic Botanist, 2004 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Archaeobotany |
| Institutions | British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara
Cardiff University University College London |
Gordon Hillman (born July 20, 1943 – died July 1, 2018) was a British scientist. He was an archaeobotanist, which means he studied ancient plants. He worked at the UCL Institute of Archaeology in London. Gordon Hillman was very important in his field. His research and teaching helped shape archaeobotany around the world.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Gordon Hillman was born in Hailsham, East Sussex, England. This was on July 20, 1943. His parents were Joyce and Albert Hillman. He loved plants from a young age. His father even owned a local plant nursery.
After school, he worked as a field assistant. He was at Alston Moor in Cumbria. Then he worked at the Natural History Museum in London. This was from 1960 to 1965.
He later studied agricultural botany at Reading University. In 1969, he went to Germany. There, he studied archaeobotany with Maria Hopf.
Exploring Ancient Plant Life
Gordon Hillman's work involved lots of fieldwork. He spent long periods studying plants and archaeology. His first dig was in Turkey (1969–70). It was at a site called Can Hasan III. Here, he found early farmed plants, like rye.
From 1970 to 1973, he joined the Aşvan Project. This was also in Turkey. It was a big project with many experts. They studied four sites near Aşvan village. Gordon used a special system there. It helped him find tiny plant remains. He also studied how people processed crops. This work was very important for archaeobotany.
In 1972-73, he worked at Abu Hureyra in Syria. He used his plant finding system again. They found over 500 liters of plant remains. Studying these plants became his main focus for 25 years. He collected many seeds and plant samples. These are now used for reference. They are kept at the British Institute at Ankara and the UCL Institute of Archaeology.
Later, he went on more trips. He focused on wild cereals. He visited Turkey and Syria in 1983. He also went to Turkey in 1992. His last fieldwork was in Turkmenistan. He started archaeobotany at the Neolithic site of Jeitun. This was in 1989, 1990, and 1992.
Teaching and Research
After studying in Germany, Gordon Hillman worked in Ankara, Turkey. He was a research fellow there. He stayed from 1969 to 1975. He never finished his PhD, but he became a top expert.
From 1975 to 1981, he taught part-time. This was at Cardiff University in Wales. He also worked as an archaeobotanist. In 1981, he moved to the UCL Institute of Archaeology. He became a lecturer there. Later, he became a Reader and then a Visiting Professor. He retired early in 1997 due to health issues.
Gordon Hillman and David Harris worked well together. They did fieldwork in Syria and Turkmenistan. They also organized a big conference. This led to a famous book called Foraging and Farming. By the 1980s, Gordon was known worldwide. Students came from everywhere to study with him. They loved his enthusiasm and kindness.
How to Study Ancient Plants
In the 1970s, Gordon Hillman made a key discovery. He saw how farmers in Turkey processed crops. This created specific mixes of seeds and plant bits. He realized these mixes could be found in ancient sites. This helped scientists understand how old crops were used.
His work showed that ancient seed finds were not just random. They showed different stages of crop processing. This method is now standard in archaeobotany. Many of his students continued this work. They studied traditional farming in places like Turkey and Ethiopia.
Gordon also stressed knowing wild food plants well. He said we need to understand their natural environment. He studied plants from Tell Abu Hureyra in Syria. His research showed what wild foods were available long ago.
He also did experiments. He harvested wild cereals himself. This helped him understand how fast wheat could be domesticated. He found that it could happen quickly. This led to important discussions in science.
Identifying tiny plant pieces was hard. So, Gordon built a great seed collection. He made guides to help others. He was very good at identifying wheat. He helped develop ways to tell different wheat types apart. He also explored new ways to identify plants. This included using special chemical tests.
The Start of Farming
The plant remains from Tell Abu Hureyra are very important. They help us understand how farming began in Southwest Asia. This site shows about 4000 years of human life. It covers the time when people started growing wild cereals.
In the older layers (Abu Hureyra 1), there were about 200 wild plant types. About 20 of these were main foods. People gathered a wide variety of foods. In the newer village layers (Abu Hureyra 2), people mostly ate 7-8 farmed plants. These included barley and emmer wheat.
Scientists still debate some details. For example, when exactly farming started there. Also, how climate changes affected what people ate. Gordon Hillman first thought people just gathered wild foods. Later, he suggested they might have started growing them. This could have been due to dry weather.
The study of Abu Hureyra's plants continues. New discoveries will help us learn even more.
What Hunter-Gatherers Ate
Gordon Hillman was very interested in what hunter-gatherers ate. He studied plants from Wadi Kubbaniya in Egypt. This site is about 18,000 years old. It had many ancient tuber remains. He also studied plants from Dolní Věstonice II in the Czech Republic. This site is about 26,000 years old. It had seeds and tubers.
He often looked at studies of modern hunter-gatherers. He used his language skills to find information. After retiring, he focused on ancient British diets. He worked with Ray Mears, a bushcraft expert. They did many experiments. They learned how to prepare wild plants. This included removing poisons and improving taste. His work on this is still being put together by his colleagues.
Ancient Farming Practices
Gordon Hillman also worked on many farming sites. These included Can Hasan III and Aşvan in Turkey. He also studied sites in Greece and Wales. While these were not his main focus later on, his students continued this work. For example, the rye finds from Can Hasan III were very important.
Discovering Ancient Meals
Two ancient food finds really interested Gordon. One was the stomach contents of Lindow Man. This body was found in 1984. It dates back about 2000 years. Gordon's student found that Lindow Man's last meal was a coarse bread. It was made from wheat and barley.
At Wadi Kubbaniya, he found human waste with seeds in it. He also worked with food scientists. They studied the nutrition of acorns and sea club-rush tubers.
Impact and Recognition
Even after retiring early, Gordon Hillman published many papers. He also co-wrote two books. One was Village on the Euphrates. The other was Wild Food. He also helped edit Foraging and Farming.
He greatly improved how archaeobotany was done. He created large plant reference collections. These are at the British Institute at Ankara and the Institute of Archaeology. His work made archaeobotany more respected. The UCL Institute of Archaeology is still a major center for this research.
Perhaps his biggest impact was through his students. They took his ideas to new places and times. Many of them are now leaders in the field. Gordon also made wild food foraging popular. He did this through his work with Ray Mears.
Honours
In 2004, Gordon Hillman received a special award. It was the Distinguished Economic Botanist award. This was from the Society for Economic Botany. In 2009, his former students and colleagues honored him. They gave him a book of essays. It was called From Foragers to Farmers.
Personal Life
Gordon Hillman was briefly married to Wendy MacInnes. He had a daughter and three grandsons. He suffered from Parkinson's disease. He passed away on July 1, 2018.
