I have received this from Anneke Clason's former students and I'm happy to
forward it to Zooarch.
Cheers,
Umberto


Professor Anneke Clason died at her home in Haren, near the Dutch city of
Groningen, on 7 April 2008, aged 75. Her passing signifies the loss of a
passionate advocate of archaeozoology, both in the Netherlands and further
afield.

Anneke joined the then Biological-Archaeological Institute in Groningen as a
student assistant on 1 November 1956. Her job at the Institute was to relaunch
archaeozoology, which had become marginalised after her teacher Albert Egges
van Giffen’s 1913 thesis. She was appointed a researcher on 1 January 1962,
becoming professor of archaeozoology in 1994.

She began her work as an archaeozoologist by single-handedly expanding the then
very limited comparative collection, which over the years would become one of
the best in the world. She performed her research not only in the Netherlands
but also, and more especially, in other countries, including Germany, former
Yugoslavia, the Middle East, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Africa, training
young people to become archaeozoologists in all these countries. Her greatest
research interests were domestication, the introduction of animals, and the use
of antlers and bone for making tools.

Quite early on in her career, Anneke concluded that archaeozoology could
flourish only through international collaboration. In 1971 she became one of
the founders of an international organisation for fellow archaeozoologists that
would later become the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ). From
the very beginning until 2002 she was an active member of the ICAZ board. Two
years before she retired, she was made an honorary member. Many of her
colleagues from all over the world, on hearing the sad news of her death,
remarked on the great loss to ICAZ and archaeozoology. One quote says it all:
‘she was, in fact, the heart and soul of ICAZ’.

Anneke was also interested in live domesticated animals, the descendants of the
animals whose archaeological remains she had studied. To prevent the last of
the old breeds from being lost, in 1976 she and a number of other concerned
individuals set up the Dutch Rare Breeds Survival Trust. The organisation
continues to flourish to this day.

For us, her Dutch students, Anneke was above all the hub of our academic world
in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was then that she ran a lively archaeozoology
department, which not only housed several PhD students, but also regularly
welcomed foreign guests on short or long stays. Many of them came from Spain,
as well as from the United Kingdom, Indonesia and India. Looking back, the
atmosphere then was unique. Anneke inspired us in our work, filling us with
enthusiasm. Though she was demanding, she also gave us a healthy dose of
freedom. She was very involved with ‘her’ people. In all honesty, we have to
say that she sometimes took this a little far – every one of us clashed with
her at some point, when she ventured too far into private territory. But she
was also a kind of mother to us, who was genuinely concerned about us, our
friends and our families. When some of her PhD students had kids, she had a
playpen placed in the lab so that the new young parents could keep an eye on
their offspring while they worked. In this respect, too, she was ahead of her
time.

We all have a lot to thank her for, and every one of us cherishes our memories
of her. She was quite unique, and we will miss her dearly.

Dick Brinkhuizen, Hijlke Buitenhuis, Lambertus van Es, Annemie Kersten, Egge
Knol, Roel Lauwerier, Wietske Prummel, Jaap Schelvis, Jørn Zeiler