Ferdinand Maier (archaeologist)

Ferdinand Maier (born August 16, 1925 in Villingen ; † April 24, 2014 in Idstein ) was a German prehistoric archaeologist .

Ferdinand Maier studied Prehistory and Protohistory at the University of Freiburg . In 1954 he received his doctorate from Wolfgang Kimmig with his thesis The Late Hallstatt Belt Sheet of Southwest Germany . For his work he was awarded the travel grant of the Roman-Germanic Commission (RGK) of the German Archaeological Institute . His further scientific life was to remain closely connected with the Roman-Germanic Commission. After the end of the travel grant, he joined the RGK in November 1955, which he only left when he retired in 1990. Initially he was a speaker and in this role he was responsible for the editorial department. In 1972 he was elected Second Director, and in 1981 he was appointed First Director, succeeding Hans Schönberger , whom he had supported as Second Director since his appointment in 1972. Early on he was involved in the excavations of the late La Tène settlement of Manching , with his work The Painted Late La Tène Pottery of Manching , he completed his habilitation in 1969 at the University of Frankfurt . Until his retirement, he has since given regular lectures at the university in Frankfurt. As first director, Maier also took over the management of the excavations in Manching, from 1984 to 1987 he headed a major excavation there with the exploration of the northern bypass . In addition, he was active as a reviewer for the German Research Foundation for many years . Successor as the first director of the RGK was Siegmar von Schnurbein .

Maier was regarded as an internationally very networked, excellent expert on the European Iron Age . His work in Manching is considered to be groundbreaking, and through this project he also promoted many young scientists, giving them an unusually large amount of freedom in research. Until shortly before his death he published the series Die Ausgrabungen in Manching . In his last major work, Maier dealt with the golden cult tree, one of the outstanding individual finds that were made in Manching.

For his services to archeology, especially in contact with his French colleagues, Maier was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French President . In addition, he was a real member of the Austrian Archaeological Institute , member of the Conseil Permanent of the Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques as well as the Conseil Scientifique du Mont Beuvray .

Maier was married to the art historian Irmgard Koenig († 1999), last lived in Michelstadt in the Odenwald and had two children.

Fonts (selection)

• The painted late Latène ceramics by Manching. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1970 (= The excavations in Manching, Volume 3)
• The heather drink oppidum. Topography of the fortified Celtic hill settlements from the younger Iron Age near Oberursel in the Taunus. Theiss, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-8062-0793-3 (= Guide to Hessian Prehistory and Early History, Volume 4)

literature

• Siegmar von Schnurbein : Ferdinand Maier (1925–2014) . In: Blickpunkt Archäologie 2014, 1, p. 103.
• Susanne Sievers : Ferdinand Maier (1925–2014) . In: Reports of the RGK 95, 2014, pp. 5–12.