Here is an English version of the obit.:
Sad news: Gerd Weisgerber
At the age of 72, Gerd Weisgerber lost his long fight against cancer on
June 22. 2010. He is survived by his
wife Angelika and his children Andreas and Monika.
Gerd Weisgerber studied European prehistory at the university of
Saarbruecken, where he got his Ph.D. in 1970.
As assistant to professor Rolf Hachmann, he came into contact with the
Middle East while organizing excavation
campaigns for Kamid el-Loz in Lebanon. A pioneer in the study of
ancient mining, Gerd Weisgerber's
international career started when he was appointed the first mining
archaeologist ever at the German Mining
Museum (Bochum) in 1973. For almost 40 years, his explorations in
Europe, in the Mediterranean and the Near
East have broken ground in the fields of archaeo-metallurgy, ancient
mining, and archaeology. Work at
Timna/Israel were followed by expeditions in Iran, before he started
his lifelong work on the mining history
and archaeology of the Sultanate of Oman.
Beginning with his seminal research at the Bronze Age
mining/metallurgical site of Maysar, Gerd and his team
went on to define the Iron Age cultures of Oman (at Lisq/Samad), and to
characterize the mining/metallurgical
history of this country from 3000 BC to 1950 AD. Omani archaeology and
the search for ancient "Magan"
("Makkan") occupied him for the rest of his life, as he returned there
for more excavations and explorations
almost every year until his death. In addition, Gerd is credited with
exploring ancient mining and metallurgy
in Siphnos and Thasos, in Jordan, and later in Iran again, in Central
Asia, in Thailand, in Spain, Portugal
and France, and of course in Germany.
At home, he used his post to establish step-by-step a department for
mining archaeology and ancient metallurgy
at the German Mining Museum, bringing experts permanently to Bochum. In
1984 he was appointed deputy director
of the museum. In 1987 he was awarded an honorary professorship at
Freiburg university, where he taught mining
archaeology for many years.
In 2003, friends and colleagues from all over the world presented him
with a festschrift: Man and Mining,
Studies in Honour of Gerd Weisgerber on occasion of his 65th birthday.
They expressed the hope to have him
with all his expertise around for many more years. But sadly, we all
knew, that many more years would not be
given to him. So we will remember a devoted archaeologist, overwhelming
everybody with his friendship, his
enthusiasm and his profound knowledge.
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