Dr. Merrick Posnansky, the pioneering archaeologist and historian of Africa and the African diaspora, passed away September 24, 2024, in Encino, California, at the age of 93. He was Professor Emeritus in the Departments of History and Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Born on March 8, 1931, in Bolton, England, Posnansky studied at the Universities of Nottingham and Cambridge (Peterhouse). His scholarly career spanned a half-century at several universities in numerous countries across Africa and the African diaspora.
In 1956, Posnansky joined the Royal National Parks of Kenya as the Warden of Prehistoric Sites where he excavated at Olorgesailie and Lanet. In 1957, he presented the first lecture series in eastern Africa on African archaeology and African art history on behalf of the Extra Mural Department of Uganda’s Makerere University College. From 1958 to 1962, Posnansky was Curator of the Uganda Museum, where he organized the first Museums Association in Sub-Saharan Africa. Though he worked at several rock art sites, his most important fieldwork was at Bweyorere and Bigo, both associated with kingship in Uganda. He initiated the teaching of African archaeology for the first time at an African university at Makerere in 1962. From 1962 to 1964, Posnansky was Assistant Director of the British Institute of History and Archaeology in East Africa, then based at both Kampala and Dar-es-Salaam, during which time he organized several training programs for students from East Africa. As Director of the Makerere African Studies Programme, from 1964 to 1967, he developed graduate programs for over 50 students. During his time in Uganda, Posnansky was President of the Uganda Society (1964), editor of Uganda Journal (1962-1967), and the first chairman of the Uganda Ancient and Historical Monuments Commission (1964).
From 1967 to 1976, Posnansky was Professor and Chair of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Ghana, where he initiated the first Archaeology program in Sub-Saharan Africa offering bachelor’s to doctoral degrees. Posnansky’s most important work in Ghana was his archaeological and ethno-archaeological research at Hani in Brong Ahafo where he organized annual field schools patronized by both Ghanaian and international students for nearly three decades.
Posnansky was recruited as Professor of History, and later of Anthropology, at UCLA in 1976 and was sequentially Chair of the Archaeology Program, Director of the Institute of Archaeology, and Director of the James S. Coleman African Studies Center. He helped establish the University of California’s Education Abroad Programs in Ghana and Togo. Posnansky was involved for many years in developing closer cooperation with Japanese Africanists. He also conducted research in Jamaica, Benin, and Somalia, and he was a UNESCO consultant in Egypt and Somalia. Many of his 17 doctoral students wrote dissertations on Diasporan Archaeology.
Following retirement in 1994, Posnansky returned to research in Uganda where he dug the Egyptian fort at Dufile and worked closely with the Uganda Museum. More recently, he researched stamp imagery in Africa.
Posnansky authored six edited and co-edited volumes; over 170 papers, book chapters, notes; and 46 book reviews. His memoir, Africa and Archaeology: Empowering an Expatriate Life, was published in 2009. The following year, the African Archaeological Reviewpublished a 33-page interview with Posnansky by Jonathan R. Walz.
In 1993, Posnansky was honored with a festschrift volume of the African Archaeological Review and, in 2009, with a two-day conference at the Clark Library and a two-session panel at the Society for American Archaeology. In 2003, Posnansky was awarded the James Harrington Medal of the Society or Historical Archaeology, the first non-Americanist so honored.
During his career, Posnansky was a visiting professor at numerous universities, including Syracuse, Jerusalem, Addis Ababa, Beer Shiva, Ghana, and Makerere, and a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge. Posnansky delivered memorial lectures and keynote addresses at cities around the world, such as Dakar, Norwich, Tokyo, and Washington.
Posnansky’s wife Eunice predeceased him in 2003. A trust was established in Eunice’s name for girls’ senior education in Uganda. He is survived by three daughters (Sheba, Tessa, and Helen) and five grandchildren (Malcolm, Maya, Kofi, Britta and Finn).
