Willem Albertus "Wim" van Es (born 1934) is a Dutch archaeologist. Between 1965 and 1988 he was director of the Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek.

Life

Van Es was born in 1934 in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. He studied

classical archaeology Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about i ...

and

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

. From 1956 to 1965 he worked at the Biological-Archaeological Institute at the same university. From 1957 to 1958 he was also acting

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

at the

Drents Museum The Drents Museum () is an art and history museum in Assen, Drenthe, in the Netherlands. The museum was opened in 1854. It has a collection of prehistorical artifacts, applied art, and visual art. The museum also has temporary exhibitions. In 20 ...

. From 1962 to 1965 he was curator at the

Groninger Museum The Groninger Museum () is an art museum in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. The museum exhibits modern and contemporary art of local, national, and international artists. The museum opened in 1874. The current post-modernist building co ...

. He obtained his PhD at the University of Groningen in 1967 with a dissertation titled: "Wijster, a native village beyond the imperial frontier 150-425 AD." He was named part-time professor (Dutch: ''buitengewoon hoogleraar'') of prehistory and

protohistory Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...

Northwestern Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically. Geographic definitions Geographically, Northw ...

at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

in 1968. Van Es became director of the Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek (ROB) in 1965 and remained in charge until 1988. When van Es took over as director from his predecessor Glazema he applied for more staff and financial funds to avoid having to throw away findings without even having done a proper analyse. He was successful in his applications and during his time as director the ROB grew from thirty to a hundred employees. Upon his departure as director the W.A. van Es prize for young archaeologists was established. Van Es remained working at the institute until 1997. As an archaeologist van Es was influential in the excavations of

Dorestad Dorestad (''Dorestat, Duristat'') was an early medieval emporium, located in the southeast of the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands, close to the modern-day town of Wijk bij Duurstede. It flourished during the 8th to early 9th centuries, ...

. In the province of

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

he was involved in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

excavations in

Gieten Gieten is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Aa en Hunze, and lies about 14 km east of Assen. History The village was first mentioned in 1223 as Geten. The etymology is unclear. Gieten is an ''e ...

Peize Peize is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Drenthe. Located in the northern part of Drenthe approximately 10 kilometers south of the city of Groningen (city), Groningen. It is part of the municipality of Noordenveld, located between ...

, Vries and

Wijster Wijster is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, and lies about 11 km north of Hoogeveen. History The village was first mentioned in 1206 as in Wisnare. The etymology is unknown. Wij ...

. Van Es also performed excavations in

grave field A grave field is a prehistoric cemetery, typically of Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe. Grave fields are distinguished from necropoleis by the former's lack of remaining above-ground structures, buildings, or grave markers. Types Grave fields can b ...

s and settlements in the province dating back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. He published on findings of Roman coins and statuettes in the three Northern provinces of Drenthe,

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

and

. Van Es was elected a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Es, Wim van 1934 births Living people 20th-century Dutch archaeologists Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Groningen (city) University of Groningen alumni Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam