John Wymer

Who was John Wymer?

Dr John James Wymer, was a British archaeologist and one of the leading experts on the Palaeolithic period.

Born near Kew Gardens in Surrey, Wymer was introduced to archaeology by his parents who would take him to gravel pits to search for ancient sites. He trained as a teacher but spent his spare time pursuing his passion for archaeology and never took a formal qualification in the discipline. In 1948 he married is first wife, Paula May, with whom he had five children.

He made his name in the field in July 1955 when at the age of 27 and still working as an amateur, he found the third piece of the oldest human skull in the British Isles while investigating the quarries at Swanscombe in Kent. This 400,000-year-old piece fitted with two previously found fragments and is part of the skull of Swanscombe Man, who is now considered to be a specimen of homo heidelbergensis.

In 1956 he took a job at Reading Museum which permitted him to devote more time to his enthusiastic lifelong interest in the study of handaxes and their makers. He helped redesign the galleries, wrote a description of the Moulsford gold torc and undertook an excavation at the classic Mesolithic site at Thatcham.