Jack L. Benson

Jack Leonard Benson (born June 25, 1920 in Kansas City, Missouri , † April 4, 2009 ) was an American classical archaeologist .

Jack Benson, coming from a Swedish family, first studied at the University of Missouri (1941 BA). From 1942 to 1947 he took part in the Navy in World War II. In 1947 he made his MA at Indiana University . In 1948 he began working on his dissertation with Erik Sjöqvist at Princeton University and continued it with Karl Schefold at the University of Basel , where he received his doctorate in 1952. He then worked at Yale University (1952–53 Instructor), the University of Pennsylvania Museum (1954–56 Research Assistant), the University of Mississippi (1958–1961 Associate Professor), Princeton University (1960–61 Visiting Associate Professor) and Wellesley College (1963-64 Associate Professor). From 1965 until his retirement in 1985 he was Professor of Classical Archeology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst .

Benson took part in excavations in Gordion and Cyprus (Bamboula) and carried out a survey on Leros in 1961 . His main research area was Corinthian vase painting . Using the method of John D. Beazley , he has dealt with the attribution of Corinthian vases to individual painters and workshops since his dissertation. Some of his results have been adopted by Darrell A. Amyx in his treatment of Corinthian vase painting, but have often been refuted.

Publications (selection)

• The history of the Corinthian vases Schwabe, Basel 1953 (= dissertation).
• Horse, Bird and Man. The Origins of Greek Painting. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst 1970.
• Bamboula at Kourion. The Stratification of the Settlement. In: Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus 1970, pp. 1-28.
• Bamboula at Kourion. The Necropolis and the Finds. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1972.
• The Necropolis of Kaloriziki. (= Studies in Mediterranean Archeology 36). Åström, Gothenburg 1973.
• with Agnes N. Stillwell: Corinth XV, 3: The Pottery from the Potters' Quarter. American School of Classical Studies, Athens 1978.
• Earlier Corinthian Workshops. A Study of Corinthian Geometric and Protocorinthian Stylistic Groups. Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam 1989, ISBN 90-71211-15-0 .

literature

• Paul Åström : Who's who in Cypriote archeology. Biographical and bibliographical notes. Åström, Göteborg 1971, p. 15 (with picture).
• JL Benson: In memoriam. In: Art History Program Newsletter. University of Massachusetts Amherst, Fall 2009, p. 4 (full text) (PDF; 3.8 MB).