Herman Gabriel Ramm (9 May 1922 – 30 November 1991) was an archaeologist.

Biography

Ramm was educated at

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a coeducational day and boarding school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, Headmasters' Conference. History Liverpool Coll ...

. In 1940 he enrolled at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

to study Classics. His undergraduate degree was interrupted by Ramm serving in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

during the Second World War. He completed the course after the end of the war. In 1947 he was appointed as a tutor in Philosophy and Greek at

St John's College, Durham St John's College is one of the Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, recognised colleges of Durham University. The college was established in 1909 as a Church of England theological college and became a full constituent college of th ...

. In 1948 he joined the

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

in York, where he worked for the rest of his career. Much of Ramm's archaeological work was undertaken in the city of York on behalf of the RCHM and the Ministry of Works. In 1955 he excavated part of the defences of ''

Eboracum Eboracum () was a castra, fort and later a coloniae, city in the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the ...

'' to establish their historical development. He provided significant contributions to the RCHME volume on ''

'' (1962) and to the

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History (VCH), is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of Englan ...

of York. Primarily he researched and worked on Roman and Prehistoric sites, but Ramm made two major contributions to Post-Medieval archaeology: his work on the defences at Newark during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, and his work on

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

n settlements. The latter was published in a 1970 monograph ''Shielings and bastles''. Ramm's 1978 publication on ''The Parisi'' was the first substantial work dealing solely with this

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

tribe and its origins. Ramm joined the

Yorkshire Philosophical Society The Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS) is a charitable learned society (charity reg. 529709) which aims to promote the public understanding of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the archaeology and history of York and Yorkshire. ...

(YPS) in the 1950s and served as a member of its council from 1956 onwards. He was elected as a Life Vice-President of the YPS in 1969. An annual memorial prize of £400 is issued in his name by the YPS to a postgraduate student at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

who has submitted the best dissertation on an archaeological subject that year. He was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1972 Birthday Honours The 1972 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments to orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms to reward and highlight citizens' good works, on the occasion of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. They were announced in suppleme ...

through his work as an investigator for the RCHME. Ramm died in 1991 and is buried at Fulford Cemetery.

Select publications

*Ramm, H. G. 1952. "Roman camps on Bootham Stray, York", ''Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society'', 15. *Ramm, H. G. 1953-1954. "A note on the finding of the Roman road at No. 278 Tadcaster Road, York, 1953", ''Proceedings of the York Archaeological and Yorkshire Architectural Society'' 10. *Ramm, H. G. 1958. "Roman Burials from Castle Yard, York", ''York Archaeological Journal'' 39, 400. *Ramm, H. G. 1961.
Romano-British Antiquities
, in Tillott, P. M. (ed) ''A History of Yorkshire: The City of York'' (Victoria County History of the Counties of England). London, Oxford University Press & Institute for Historical Research. 322-331. *Ramm, H. G. 1971. ''Roman York From A.D. 71: A Pictorial Guide''. York, Yorkshire Archaeological and York Archaeological Society. *Ramm, H. G., McDowall, R. W., Mercer, E. 1970. ''Shielings and bastles'', London, Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England). *Ramm, H. G. 1971. "The Tombs of Archbishops Walter de Gray (1216–55) and Godfrey de Ludham (1258–65) in York Minster, and their Contents", ''Archaeologia'' 103, 101-147. *Ramm, H. G. 1976. "The Origins of York", ''Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society''. 59-63. *Ramm, H. G. 1976. "The Roman Roads West of Tadcaster", ''York Historian'' 1 *Ramm, H. G. 1978. ''The Parisi''. Duckworth. *Ramm, H. G. 1978. "Obituary – George Francis Willmot", ''Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society'', 5.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramm, Herman 1922 births 1991 deaths Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London British archaeologists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society Royal Artillery personnel British Army personnel of World War II Alumni of University College, Oxford Burials in North Yorkshire Contributors to the Victoria County History