The archaeologist and Bronze Age metal specialist Dr Jay J. Butler (1921-2014) was a kind, warmhearted man, averse to hype and ostentation, who was happy to share his knowledge in non-academic language both with professionals and interested amateurs. But woe betide anyone who might use the evidence to draw unwarranted conclusions… A cosmopolitan American, he demonstrated that people in the Bronze Age maintained contacts that reached well beyond today’s national frontiers. In practicals with his students he acquainted them with, for instance, the difficulties of bronze casting: prehistoric artisans were far more sophisticated than previously thought. He started taking samples for metal analyses, initiated international collaborative projects, and widened his students’ horizons by taking them on trips abroad to visit excavations and museums. His eventful life was linked to many themes: immigration that is welcome only inasfar as it is lucrative, racism, exploitation of the poor, religious fundamentalism, a devastating world war, information being doctored or suppressed, lack of humanity and neglect of common courtesy. With Jay Butler’s demise, the world lost an enthusiastic, authoritative and accessible archaeologist.
Copyrights cover ii
List of Abbreviations vi
Foreword by Jan Albert Bakker vii
Author’s preface xi
Acknowledgements xvi
Chapter 1 New York City 1922-1940 1
Chapter 2 Jordan’s military service 25
Chapter 3 Jordan and Jean in the USA 42
Chapter 4 Jay and Jean in the United Kingdom 59
Chapter 5 Divorce 98
Chapter 6 Jay and the Home Office 127
Chapter 7 Jay’s early years in the Netherlands 177
Chapter 8 Growing expertise and international collaboration 230
Chapter 9 The final chapter 260
Chapter 10 References 283
Appendix A: by Liesbeth Theunissen
The Prehistoric Society Summer Conference in the Netherlands, 3rd to 10th September 1960 290
Appendix B: Bibliography Jay J. Butler 312
Appendix C: Contents of Jay Butler’s PhD thesis 318
Appendix D: Jay Butler’s favourite nursery rhymes and limericks 324
