John Clegg (11 January 1935 – 11 March 2015
) was an Australian archaeologist who specialised in the study of rock art in which he was one of the pioneers in Australia.
Early life and education
Clegg was born on 11 January 1935 in
Nottingham, England
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin ...
and grew up in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, where his mother was an academic. John and his sister were evacuated during World War Two to
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, British Columbia, Canada and in this period he began a lifelong interest in sculpture. Returning to England at the end of the war, he attended
The Leys School
The Leys School is a co-educational independent school in Cambridge, England. It is a day and boarding school for about 574 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Histo ...
in Cambridge, and then
Magdalene College
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
, Cambridge University, where he graduated in 1959 as a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a Certificate in Education. In 1962, he was awarded an M.A. Honours at Cambridge where he initially read Geography, but after two years changed to Archaeology.
[Clegg, John K. ''Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology'' 2014, pp 1503-1505 Jo McDonald, Kate Sullivan]
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Move to Australia
Clegg undertook excavations with Eric Higgs and Charles McBurney, both of whom were influential on his studies. After these studies he worked as a school teacher, and in 1963-4 he excavated at Coygan Cave
Coygan Cave was an ossiferous cave near Laugharne in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The cave was about a mile from the sea and located in a limestone hillside, but has been destroyed by quarrying.
Although prehistoric handaxes were found in the cave, ...
in South Wales as a contract archaeologist. In 1964, Clegg moved to Brisbane, Queensland
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
and took up a position in archaeology in the Psychology Department of Queensland University
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = Bri ...
.
Academic career
Clegg's Masters Thesis ''Mathesis Words, Mathesis Pictures'', 1978),[Clegg, J. 1978. ''Mathesis words, Mathesis pictures.'' Volumes 1 and 2. MA (Hons) dissertation, University of Sydney. (Later published as Clegg, J. 1981. Notes towards Mathesis art. Balmain: 1981 Clegg Calenders)] involved an analysis of the Bare Hill rock art site located near Cairns in Queensland. This was the first study in Australia to examine rock art from an archaeological perspective. He was awarded the University Medal for this work. Clegg went on to produce over 60 archaeological papers and books, and was an eccentric and respected lecturer, who added drama and humour to his teaching.. He produced a popular Field Guide to the Rock Art of Sydney (Stanbury & Clegg 1990)