George Counsell Boon FSA (20 September 1927 - 31 August 1994) was a British archaeologist, numismatist, and museum curator. He was known for his work on the Roman sites of

Caerleon Caerleon ( ; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable ...

and

Silchester Silchester is a village and civil parish about north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about south-west of Reading. Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of ...

Early years

Boon was born in Bristol on the 20th of September 1927 and studied Latin at

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

under

Arnaldo Momigliano Arnaldo Dante Momigliano (5 September 1908 – 1 September 1987) was an Italian historian of classical antiquity, known for his work in historiography, and characterised by Donald Kagan as "the world's leading student of the writing of history ...

. While still a student he carried out his first excavation, at the Kings Weston Park Roman villa in Bristol.

Reading Museum and Silchester

After graduating from Bristol, he took a job as an archaeological assistant at Reading Museum in 1950. Here he catalogued the collection of artefacts from the excavations of the nearby Roman town of

Calleva Atrebatum Calleva Atrebatum ("Calleva of the Atrebates") was an Iron Age oppidum, the capital of the Atrebates tribe. It then became a walled town in the Roman province of Britannia, at a major crossroads of the roads of southern Britain. The modern vi ...

, modern Silchester, carried out by the Society of Antiquaries before the First World War. He published two books on Silchester - Roman Silchester (1957) and Silchester: The Roman Town of Calleva (1974).

The National Museum of Wales

In 1957 he moved to the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

in Cardiff as Assistant Keeper of Archaeology where he remained until his retirement. He became Keeper at the National Museum of Wales in 1976 and Curator in 1987. He began first of many rescue excavations at Caerleon as soon as he arrived in Cardiff. Caerleon was the site of a Roman legionary fortress,

Isca Augusta Isca, variously specified as Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, was the site of a Roman legionary fortress and settlement or ''vicus'', the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day suburban town of Caerleon in the north of the city of ...

and Boon published many papers and monographs on the site. Boon also published many papers on prehistoric, Roman and medieval artefacts such as pottery, metalwork and glass as well as papers on Roman, medieval and post-medieval coins.

Honours and awards

George Boon was a member of the Society of Antiquaries and served as its vice-president from 1980 to 1984. He was also a Vice-President of the

Roman Society The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1,200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from present-day ...

from 1977 to his death in 1994. He became a Fellow of the

Royal Numismatic Society The Royal Numismatic Society (RNS) is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics. Its patron was Queen Elizabeth II. Membership Foremost collectors and researchers, bo ...

and joined the

British Numismatic Society The British Numismatic Society exists to promote the study and understanding of British numismatics. The Society was founded in 1903, focusing on all forms of coinage, tokens, banknotes and medals relating to the British Isles and former parts ...

in 1980, where he was elected a member of Council in 1983 and continued to serve on the council until 1986.

Personal life

In 1956 he married Diana Martyn and they had two sons and one daughter. He died at Penarth on 31 August 1994.

Selected Bibliography

Boon, George C. ''A Hundred and One Coins : Some of the Varieties Commonly Brought for Identification''. National Museum of Wales, 1973. Boon, George C. ''Cardiganshire Silver and the Aberystwyth Mint in Peace & War''. National Museum of Wales, 1981. Boon, George C. ''Coins of the Anarchy, 1135-54''. National Museum of Wales, 1988. Boon, George C. ''Isca, the Roman Legionary Fortress at Caerleon, Mon.'' National Museum of Wales, 1972. Boon, George C. ''Laterarium Iscanum : The Antefixes, Brick & Tile-Stamps of the Second Augustan Legion''. Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru, 1984. Boon, George C. ''Monographs & Collections : Relating to Excavations Financed by H.M. Department of the Environment in Wales. 1, Roman Sites''. Cambrian Archaeological Association, 1978. Boon, George C. ''Roman Sites''. Cambrian Archaeological Association, 1978. Boon, George C. ''Silchester : The Roman Town of Calleva''. David and Charles, 1974. Boon, George C. ''The Legionary Fortress of Caerleon-Isca : A Brief Account''. Roman Legionary Museum, 1987. Boon, George C. ''The Roman Town Calleva Atrebatum at Silchester Hampshire : A New Guide''. Reading Museum in Conjunction with the Calleva Museum Committee, 1963. Boon, George C. ''Welsh Hoards 1979-1981 : The Coinage of Cnut in Wales, the Coinage of the Empress Maud, the Earliest Portrait Esterlings : With an Appendix of Other Hoards from Viking Times to the Dissolution of the Monasteries''. National Museum of Wales, 1986. Boon, George C. ''Welsh Industrial Tokens and Medals : Sidelights on 18th and 19th Century Industrial Development''. National Museum of Wales, 1973. Boon, George C. ''Welsh Tokens of the Seventeenth Century''. National Museum of Wales, 1973. Boon, George C., and Jillian. Greenaway. ''The Roman Town Calleva Atrebatum at Silchester Hampshire.'' Published by Reading Museum in Conjunction with the Calleva Museum Committee, 1983. Boon, George C., and M. W. Hassall. ''The Coins''. Published on Behalf of the Board of Celtic Studies of the University of Wales yUniversity of Wales Press, 1982. Quinnell, Henrietta., and Marion. Blockley. ''Excavations at Rhuddlan, Clwyd : 1969-73 Mesolithic to Medieval''. Council for British Archaeology, 1994. Zienkiewicz, J. David., and George C. Boon. ''The Legionary Fortress Baths at Caerleon. 1, The Buildings''. National Museum of Wales, 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boon, George C. Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People associated with Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales 20th-century British archaeologists English archaeologists Alumni of the University of Bristol 1927 births 1994 deaths