Mapa de Reserva van der Hammen en Bogotá

Thomas van der Hammen ( Schiedam,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, 27 September 1924 - Chía, Colombia, 12 March 2010) was a Dutch

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

, botanist and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

.Curriculum Vitae Thomas van der Hammen
/ref> He had published more than 160 works in five languages.List of publications by Thomas van der Hammen
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WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

Biography

Thomas van der Hammen was born in the city of Schiedam in South Holland, western The Netherlands and studied botany and palaeontology at Leiden University from 1944 to 1949. He was a deeply religious man.Van der Hammen, the last great naturalist
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El Espectador ''El Espectador'' (meaning "The Spectator") is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It changed from a daily to a weekly editio ...

After his studies and years of research at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

, Van der Hammen arrived in Bogotá in 1951. Thomas van der Hammen analysed the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is situated in the Eastern Ran ...

and concluded a great lake (''Lake Humboldt'') was present there around 60,000 years BP, covering present-day Bogotá,

Soacha , image_map = Colombia - Cundinamarca - Soacha.svg , map_caption = Location of Soacha in Cundinamarca , pushpin_map = Colombia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_nam ...

Funza Funza () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, of the department of Cundinamarca. Funza is situated on the Bogotá savanna, the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense with the urban centre at an altit ...

Mosquera Mosquera is a Spanish surname (first name) originally from Galicia (Spain). The family crest states (Spanish) Gallego. It derives from the mansion of the family's founder, Ramiro de Mosquera. In the fifth century, it was already linked to ''Moscos ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Cota, Chía and

Cajicá Cajicá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca, north of the capital Bogotá. It is located in the Central Savanna Province, being the third most populous municipality in the province after Zipaquirá and Chí ...

. Van der Hammen has contributed greatly to the understanding of the

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

of the Bogotá savanna and surrounding areas. He has worked with Gonzalo Correal Urrego towards an understanding of the prehistoric sites, as

El Abra El Abra is the name given to an extensive archeological site, located in the valley of the same name. El Abra is situated in the east of the municipality Zipaquirá extending to the westernmost part of Tocancipá in the department of Cundinamar ...

Tequendama Tequendama is a preceramic and ceramic archaeological site located southeast of Soacha, Cundinamarca, Colombia, a couple of kilometers east of Tequendama Falls. It consists of multiple evidences of late Pleistocene to middle Holocene populat ...

and

Tibitó Tibitó is the second-oldest dated archaeological site on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia.Marichuela,Montoya & Reyes, 2005, p.65 Tunjuelo,Montoya & Reyes, 2005, p.71 and Subachoque Formations.Montoya & Reyes, 2005, p.69 His paleobotanical background proved valuable in dating the continental Cacho Formation.Montoya & Reyes, 2005, p.57 In 2000, a natural reserve in the north of Bogotá bordering Chía and Cota,

Thomas van der Hammen Natural Reserve The Thomas van der Hammen Natural Reserve or Thomas van der Hammen Forest Reserve is an area of the Bogotá savanna that is under environmental protection. The natural reserve was declared as such in year 2000 by the Ministry of Environment and Sus ...

, was named after the naturalist. The mayor of Bogotá,

Enrique Peñalosa Enrique Peñalosa Londoño (born 30 September 1954) is a Colombian politician. He was mayor of Bogotá from 1998 until 2001 and elected again in 2015 for the 2016–2019 term. He was prominently featured in the Panama Papers for use of off-s ...

who ran twice for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

, allowed for the construction of homes in the reserve, leading to protests of the people. In 2003, Dr. van der Hammen granted a wide-ranging interview to

Radio Netherlands Radio Netherlands (RNW; nl, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep) was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012. Its services i ...

about his work and his life."Under Foreign Skies - Thomas van der Hammen", Radio Netherlands Archives, 20 November 2003
/ref>

Works

This list is a selection.

Books

* 2008 - ''La Cordillera Oriental Colombiana Transecto Sumapaz - Estudios de Ecosistemas Tropandinos'' * 1986 - ''La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia) Transecto Buritaca-La Cumbre'' * 1979 - ''Changes in life conditions on Earth during the past one million years'' * 1953 - ''Late-glacial flora and periglacial phenomena in the Netherlands''

Articles

* 2006 - ''La conservación de la biodiversidad: hacia una estructura ecológica de soporte de la nación colombiana'' * 2001 - ''Diversidade biológica e cultural da Amazonia'' * 1997 - ''El bosque de Condalia'' * 1981 - ''Environmental changes in the Northern Andes and the extinction of Mastodon'' * 1978 - ''Stratigraphy and environment of the Upper Quaternary of the El Abra corridor and rock shelters (Colombia)'' * 1972 - ''Changes in vegetation and climate in the Amazon basin and surrounding areas during the Pleistocene'' * 1966 - ''The Pliocene and Quaternary of the Sabana de Bogotá (The Tilatá and Sabana Formations)'' * 1957 - ''Climatic periodicity and evolution of South American Maestichtian and Tertiary floras'' * 1951 - ''Vegetatie en stratigrafie van het Laat-glaciaal en het Pleni-glaciaal'' * 1949 - ''De Allerod-oscillatie in Nederland. Pollenanalytisch onderzoek van een laatglaciale meerafzetting in Drente''

References

Bibliography

Notable works by Van der Hammen

* * * *

External links

Youtube.com: Interview with Thomas van der Hammen
�� {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammen, Thomas van der 1924 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch geologists 21st-century Dutch writers 21st-century Dutch geologists 20th-century Colombian botanists 20th-century Dutch botanists 21st-century Dutch botanists Dutch emigrants to Colombia Dutch paleontologists Leiden University alumni Muisca scholars People from Schiedam