Gerald Kay Kelso

Gerald K. Kelso, Ph.D., beloved father, grandfather, and husband passed away on June 14, 2021 in Lafayette, Colorado. He was born on October 1, 1937 in Newton, Kansas to the late Gerald S. and Doris I. (Ramey) Kelso.

Gerald grew up and attended school in Newton, Kansas. He first knew he wanted to be an archaeologist when he was 12 years old. He marched into the living room of his childhood home and announced it to everyone, but he said, at the time he did not know the difference between an archaeologist and a paleontologist! After graduation from high school, he attended the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, graduating with a B.A. in Anthropology in 1961. He completed a Masters in Anthropology in 1971 at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Gerald enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1961. After serving for three years, he retired from active duty. Gerald served in the U.S. Naval Reserves from 1965 to 1981, retiring with the rank of Commander.

Gerald married the love of his life, Barbara Kelso, in 1974 after meeting her through mutual friends at an art show in Tucson, where they had both submitted works of art for competition. They were married for 44 years before Barbara’s death in 2018.

Gerald Kelso received his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in 1976, continuing his pollen research at Arizona’s Laboratory of Paleoenvironmental Studies until 1979, when he became Assistant Professor of Archaeology at Boston University, also teaching at the Center for Materials Research at MIT. While continuing his ties with academia, he left full-time teaching in 1984 to embark on a career in federal service, first with the Northeast Region of the National Park Service in Boston and Lowell, Massachusetts; then with the National Forest Service at the Homochitto National Forest, Mississippi; and finally with the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Phoenix. He retired from federal service in 2013.

Gerald’s passion was the analysis of pollen in archaeological sites. His work made significant additions to our understanding of New World prehistory at the Carn’s Site at Cape Cod National Seashore, Grasshopper Pueblo in Arizona, and Hogup Cave in Utah. He also made important contributions to the interpretation of historic landscapes and the environment at Scottow’s Dock in Boston; the British earthworks at Saratoga National Battlefield, Stillwater, NY; the David Brown and David Fisk Home sites at Minute Man National Historical Park, Concord, MA ; the Turf Fort at Jamestown, VA; the Merchant’s House Museum backlot on Manhattan Island, New York; Fort Necessity National Battlefield in Farmington, PA; and the Boott Mills Boardinghouse and Kirk Street Agents’ House at Lowell National Historic Park, Lowell, MA. He was an important part of the 17th Century Lead Coffins Project at Historic Saint Mary’s City, completing analysis of pollen samples from the coffins and providing information on the historic landscape of the property.

Gerald wrote about the results of his research throughout his career, with publications in American Antiquity, Journal of Archaeological Science, Historical Archaeology, Journal of Field Archaeology, Northeast Historical Archaeology, North American Archaeologist, Index of Texas Archaeology, and the Landscape Journal. In addition to his research contributions, he has been a friend, inspiration, and mentor to historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, cultural resource managers, palynologists, and cultural landscape professionals throughout the world.

Gerald was an avid wood carver from a very young age and an artist like his wife Barbara. He carved everything from wooden ladles that Barbara would sell with her pottery in her Tucson gallery to elaborate masks, birds, deer skulls, and other animals. Like his wife, he was extraordinarily gifted but would often say he just carved away the extra wood to find what was already there. He also enjoyed working in his yard and would every year have a bountiful vegetable garden in every state he had ever lived, from Kansas to Massachusetts to Arizona. He enjoyed a periodic trip to the range where he would live out his dream of being a buffalo hunter.

Gerald is lovingly remembered by his son Andrew, daughters Angela (Brett) Keniston and Anna (Gareth) Smith, grandchildren William, Alexys, Owen, Joyelle, Ellie, Os, and Sebastian, as well as many dear nieces, nephews, friends, and colleagues. In addition to his parents, Gerald was preceded in death by his beloved wife Barbara, sister Karen, and brother Kent.

A Celebration of Life for both Gerald and Barbara will be held on Saturday, June 26th at 5 pm at The New Church of Boulder Valley, 1370 Forest Park Cir, Lafayette, CO 80026. Memorial contributions may be made to Archeology Southwest at https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/donate/