Richard Andrew Hall (17 May 1949 – 13 September 2011) was an English archaeologist who specialized in

Viking activity in the British Isles Viking activity in the British Isles occurred during the Early Middle Ages, the 8th to the 11th centuries, when History of Scandinavia, Scandinavians travelled to the British Isles to raid, conquer, settle and trade. They are generally referred t ...

Early life and education

Richard Andrew Hall was born in

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

on 17 May 1949. He moved to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

at a young age, where he was educated at the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today ...

. Hall received his first degree in archaeology from

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

in 1971 with a dissertation on

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

activity in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. His dissertation was supervised by

Peter Addyman Peter Vincent Addyman, (born 12 July 1939), known as P. V. Addyman, is a British archaeologist who was Director of the York Archaeological Trust from 1972 to 2002. Addyman obtained a degree in archaeology at Cambridge University, after which he ...

. In 1985, Hall received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

with a dissertation on towns of the English

Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...

Career

Hall joined the

York Archaeological Trust The York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research Limited (YAT) is an educational charity, established in 1972 in the city of York, England, and trading under the York Archaeology brand since 2023. The charity presents archaeology to ...

in 1974 as excavations supervisor. He would eventually hold the position of director of archaeology and deputy director of the trust. At the same time, Hall was a

Lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in the Department of Continuing Education at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. Hall conducted pioneering research on

Scandinavian York Scandinavian York or Viking York () is a term used by historians for what is now Yorkshire during the period of Scandinavian domination from late 9th century until it was annexed and integrated into England after the Norman Conquest; in parti ...

and helped create the Jorvik Viking Centre. He also conducted research at the Viking town of Skiringssal (Kaupang),

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and suggested that the Scandinavian settlers of York might have originated from that town. Hall was the author of numerous publications on Vikings, on which he was considered one the world's foremost experts. In his writings, he maintained that Vikings were less violent and more advanced than previously believed, and that they have played a significant role in the history of the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. Hall was a trustee of the Foundation for the Preservation of Archaeological Heritage and served on the Council of the Institute for Archaeologists, the Executive Board of the

Council for British Archaeology The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is an educational charity established in 1944 in the UK. It works to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment for the benefit of present and fut ...

and the Council of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

. He was president of the Society for Medieval Archaeology and of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society and served as Chairman of the Council of the Institute for Archaeologists from 1987 to 1989.

Marriages and children

Hall's first marriage to Linda Tollerton ended in divorce. He married ceramics expert Ailsa Mainman in 1991, with whom he had two sons.

Death

Hall died in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

on 13 September 2011, aged 62.

Selected works

* ''The Viking Dig'', 1984 * ''Exploring the World of the Vikings'', 2007

Notes

References

* * * * 1949 births 2011 deaths People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution Academics of the University of Leeds Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of Queen's University Belfast English archaeologists Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Ilford {{UK-archaeologist-stub