Abercromby Lord John
(1841–1924) [Bi]
Scottish antiquary who specialized in the prehistory of northwest Europe. Born the 5th Baron of Aboukir and Tullibody, he served in the army from 1858 to 1870 before devoting himself to scholarship and especially philology, archaeology, and folklore. He travelled widely and mastered several European languages, including Finnish. In 1904 he introduced the term beaker into the literature to refer to the late Neolithic decorated drinking vessels often associated with burials of the period. The term has remained in use ever since, although Abercromby's original subdivision into three types—A, B, and C—has since been modified. In 1912 he published in two volumes A study of Bronze Age pottery in Great Britain and Ireland (Oxford: Clarendon Press). Throughout his later life he supported the work of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and was their President from 1913 to 1918. In his will he founded and endowed the Abercromby Chair of Archaeology in the University of Edinburgh, the first two incumbents being Gordon Childe and Stuart Piggott respectively.
[Obit: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 59, 4–6]
