John Mercer

Who was John Mercer?

John Barry Mercer was a British archaeologist, author and weaver.

Born in Las Palmas, Canaries to British parents, he was educated in Spain and England. He moved to Lealt on the Scottish island of Jura in the 1960s where he spent more than a decade researching and excavating Jura and establishing it as a significant Mesolithic site.

Mercer wrote a children's novel, Lizard Island Expedition, drawing on his own experiences in the Balearics. He also published a guidebook to the islands of Colonsay, Gigha and Jura and several books on the Canary Islands. He also published a history of wool spinning.