17th October 2011, 08:38 AM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/o...l-obituary
Richard Hall, who has died of cancer aged 62, was one of the foremost archaeologists of the Viking age. In a career spent almost entirely in the city of York, he not only transformed understanding of pre-Norman urban development, but did so in a manner that combined scholarship and meticulous archaeological technique with a flair for enhancing public awareness and understanding.
![[Image: Richard-Hall-001.jpg]](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/10/13/1318523218569/Richard-Hall-001.jpg)
Only an archaeologist with Hall's dedication, dry wit and ability to lead a team by example could have delivered on the greatest challenge of his career, excavation of the major site at 16-22 Coppergate in York, between 1975 and 1981. His work there, utilising open-area excavation methodologies within archaeologically unprecedented cofferdam shoring, ensured detailed recording of deep and waterlogged deposits from the Roman period onwards.
Richard Andrew Hall, archaeologist, born 17 May 1949; died 13 September 2011
Richard Hall, who has died of cancer aged 62, was one of the foremost archaeologists of the Viking age. In a career spent almost entirely in the city of York, he not only transformed understanding of pre-Norman urban development, but did so in a manner that combined scholarship and meticulous archaeological technique with a flair for enhancing public awareness and understanding.
Only an archaeologist with Hall's dedication, dry wit and ability to lead a team by example could have delivered on the greatest challenge of his career, excavation of the major site at 16-22 Coppergate in York, between 1975 and 1981. His work there, utilising open-area excavation methodologies within archaeologically unprecedented cofferdam shoring, ensured detailed recording of deep and waterlogged deposits from the Roman period onwards.
Richard Andrew Hall, archaeologist, born 17 May 1949; died 13 September 2011