Hector William Catling,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, FSA (26 June 192415 February 2013) was a British

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

who served as director of the

British School at Athens , image = Image-Bsa athens library.jpg , image_size = 300px , image_upright= , alt= , caption = The library of the BSA , latin_name= , motto= , founder = The Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, called the foundation meeti ...

between 1971 and 1989.

Early life

Catling was born on 26 June 1924. He was educated at

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...

, then a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in the Clifton area of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He went on to study '' Literae Humaniores'' at St John's College,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He remained there to take a doctorate on the Cypriot Bronze Age. This was later published under the title ''Cypriot Bronze work in the Mycenaean World''.

Academic career

In 1951 he came to Cyprus with a British archaeological mission lead by

Joan du Plat Taylor Joan Mabel Frederica du Plat Taylor FSA (Glasgow, 26 June 1906 – Cambridge, 21 May 1983) was a British archaeologist and pioneer of underwater nautical archaeology. Early life and education Joan Mabel Frederica Du Plat Taylor was born in Gl ...

to excavate at the Late Bronze Age sanctuary at

Myrtou Myrtou ( gr, Μύρτου, tr, Çamlıbel) is a town in the Kyrenia District of Cyprus, north of the city of Morphou. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. Name origin There are several traditions as to how the village got ...

-''Pigadhes''. Additionally, in 1951 he surveyed

Hala Sultan Tekke Hala Sultan Tekke or the Mosque of Umm Haram ( el, Τεκές Χαλά Σουλτάνας ''Tekés Chalá Soultánas''; tr, Hala Sultan Tekkesi) is a mosque and tekke complex on the west bank of Larnaca Salt Lake, in Larnaca, Cyprus. Umm Haram ( ...

. Between 1955 and 1959, he was Archaeological Survey Officer of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus. From 1960 to 1971, he was successively assistant keeper and senior assistant keeper at the Department of Antiquities of the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

, Oxford. In 1971, he was appointed director of the British School at Athens. He served in that post until 1989. He carried systematic excavations at the North Cemetery of Knossos with

Nicolas Coldstream John Nicolas Coldstream, , (30 March 1927 – 21 March 2008) was an archaeologist and academic specialising in the Ancient Greek pottery of the Geometric Period. He lectured at Bedford College, rising to become Professor of Aegean Archaeology, ...

and with the British School at Athens at

Menelaion The archaeological site of Menelaion (translit. Menelaeion) ( grc, Μενελάειον) is located approximately 5 km from the modern city of Sparta. The geographical structure of this site includes a hill complex (Northern hill, Menelaion, P ...

. In the last years of his life he gathered material to publish an excavation conducted by

Terence Mitford Terence Bruce Mitford FBA FSA (sometimes known as Terence Bruce-Mitford) (11 May 1905 – 8 November 1978) was a Scottish archaeologist and classicist. He spent his whole career at the University of St Andrews, and had a special interest in th ...

and John Ilife at Palaepaphos during the 50's, unfortunately he died before completing it. The monograph was finished and published posthumously. He was a

Supernumerary Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned society, learned or professional society, professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. ...

Linacre College Linacre College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the UK whose members comprise approximately 50 fellows and 550 postgraduate students. Linacre is a diverse college in terms of both the international composition of its m ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Later life

Following his retirement in 1989, Catling founded the Friends of the British School at Athens. He served as its honorary secretary until 2011. Catling died on 15 February 2013 at his home. His funeral was held at St Matthew's Church,

Langford, Oxfordshire Langford is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire, about northeast of Lechlade in neighbouring Gloucestershire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 349. Archaeology In 1943 a set of ring ditch enclosures was excavated ...

on 1 March 2013. He was buried in

Church of St Mary & All Saints, Broomfield The Church of St Mary & All Saints in Broomfield, Somerset, Broomfield, Somerset, England was built in the 15th and 16th centuries and has been designated as a Grade I listed building. The south chancel wall was built around 1320. The north aisl ...

Personal life

In 1948, Catling married Elizabeth Salter. She predeceased him in 2000. Together they had three children: Susan, Richard (also an archaeologist), and Charles.

Honours

In the 1980

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

, he was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) 'for services to British cultural interests in Greece'. In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was promoted to

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) again 'for services to British cultural interests in Greece'. He was awarded an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

by the

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

. He was an Honorary Member of the

Archaeological Society of Athens The Archaeological Society of Athens (Greek: Εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία) is an independent learned society. Also termed the Greek Archaeological Society, it was founded in 1837 by Konstantinos Bellios, just a fe ...

and a Corresponding Member of the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...

Publications

* Bronze Cut-and-Thrust swords in the Eastern Mediterranean. ''Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society'' (1957). * A New Bronze Sword from Cyprus. ''Antiquity'' (1961). * ''Cypriot Bronzework in the Mycenaean World.'' (1964). * An Early Byzantine Pottery Factory at Dhiorios in Cyprus. ''Levant'' (1972).
An Early Cypriot III Vase from the Palace at Knossos
''The Annual of the British School at Athens'' (1983).
A Medieval Tombstone in the Paphos Museum
''British School at Athens Studies'' (2001). * ''Kouklia. Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Tombs at Palaepaphos 1951-1954, Volumes I and II. Excavations of the Liverpool City Museum and St Andrews University Expedition to Palaepaphos.'' (2020)

References

External links

The Times obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catling, Hector 1924 births 2013 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London British archaeologists People educated at Bristol Grammar School Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Fellows of Linacre College, Oxford Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Directors of the British School at Athens Contributors to the Oxford Classical Dictionary