Peter Woodman (2 July 1943 – 24 January 2017) was an Irish

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 ...

specialising in the Mesolithic period in Ireland. He was a professor emeritus at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

and a former keeper of the

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...

Education and career

Woodman grew up in

Holywood, County Down Holywood ( ) (Irish: ''Ard Mhic Nasca'', meaning 'Height of the Son of Nasca'. Latin: ''Sanctus Boscus'', meaning 'Holy Wood') is a town in the metropolitan area of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a civil parish and townland of 7 ...

and studied archaeology at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. After obtaining his doctorate, he became the Assistant Keeper of Prehistoric Antiquities at the

. In the 1970s he excavated Mesolithic sites at Mount Sandel, the oldest known site of human occupation in Ireland, and Newferry in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. He became a professor at

in 1983, where he continued his research into the Mesolithic period, discovering some of the first evidence of the Mesolithic from the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

at Ferriter’s Cove on the

Dingle Peninsula The Dingle Peninsula ( ga, Corca Dhuibhne; anglicised as Corkaguiny, the name of the corresponding barony) is the northernmost of the major peninsulas in County Kerry. It ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point o ...

. After retiring, he published ''Ireland’s First Settlers: Time and the Mesolithic'', bringing together fifty years of research into the Irish Mesolithic. Woodman was elected a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in 1982. He was awarded the Europa Prize by the

Prehistoric Society The Prehistoric Society is an international learned society devoted to the study of the human past from the earliest times until the emergence of written history. Now based at University College London in the United Kingdom, it was founded by V. ...

in 2009, recognising outstanding contributions to the study of European prehistory. In the same year, the Prehistoric Society organised a conference and published a ''

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' in his honour. Following Woodman's death in January 2017, James Mallory described him as QUB's "most illustrious archaeology graduate", whose work provided the "basic structure of all subsequent research into the Irish Mesolithic".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodman, Peter 1943 births 2017 deaths People from Holywood, County Down 20th-century archaeologists 21st-century archaeologists Irish archaeologists Prehistorians Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Irish curators Academics of University College Cork Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London