ARCHAEOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 12 page 14 Ben Samphire Ben Samphire (1978–2009) died in February 2009, less than six months after he graduated from the Institute of Archaeology. He was tragically killed during fieldwork on a primate conservation project in Ecuador. Here friends and colleagues from the Institute of Archaeology record their memories of Ben. B en came to the Institute of Archaeology in 2003 to do a PhD after gaining a Distinction in his MSc in Cognitive Evolution at the University of Reading. Ben always showed a strong interest in primate behaviour through his PhD research and more recently fieldwork in primate conservation. During his time at the Institute Ben was actively involved in student life, as research student representative from 2004–2005 and working in the Institute Library; he was also a popular member of the student body and will be greatly missed. Ben Samphire on the occasion of his graduation in September 2008 beings, they have been severely hindered by pervasive misunderstandings regarding the phenomena of minds. Indeed, I will suggest that this failure to properly understand the key concepts is the most urgent impediment to the possibility of a successful archaeology of mind. Drawing centrally on Wittgenstein’s (1958) 2 philosophical insights, I will illustrate a number of these misunderstandings, and their negative implications, and by developing a method that will not only avoid these problems but will enable the uniquely secure archaeological identification of aspects of past minds, will demonstrate that (and to what extent) an archaeology of mind might be possible.” Ben’s PhD thesis the Introduction, which illustrates the rigorous intellectual approach he adopted. “‘It is not possible’ argues Hill (1994: 83) 1 ‘to learn about what was in the minds of prehistoric people – these minds are gone, and their mental contents are not recoverable’. I wish to suggest almost entirely the opposite; that it is possible to learn about what was ‘in the minds’ of prehistoric beings, precisely because it is possible to ‘recover’ (at least some of ) the contents of their minds. It will be critical, however, that we get a clear understanding of what it means for our minds to have content. It will also be crucial that we properly understand the phenomena of mind in which we are interested. is thesis will argue that while there have been increasingly numerous and diverse attempts to archaeologically investigate the minds of prehistoric Ben was a very bright and engaging young man who ploughed his own furrow. His PhD explored current theories on human cognitive evolution, comparing these to evidence in the archaeological and anthropological record. By the time of its successful conclusion Ben had decided that he wanted to work at a more practical level and decided to pursue a career in primate conservation. In order to do so he needed to gain experience as a volunteer and so went to Ecuador. He had planned to go on and apply for a masters in this field. Only a few days ago he wrote to me from Ecuador asking me to write a reference for him, as his former PhD supervisor. I held him in enormous regard and liked him very much. His death is deeply saddening to me and to all his friends at the Institute. Ben was great. From the very first day that we all started our PhDs together, I remember chatting with him for half an hour or so about his PhD topic and still not having a clue what it was about at the end of the discussion. I am not sure if he knew either, to be honest, but given his incredibly sharp mind and wonderfully relaxed approach to life you just knew that it would all work out well. Ben’s role Press release Stephen Shennan, Director of the Institute of Archaeology (issued 24/02/09) Memories of Ben 1 Jago Cooper Ben’s thesis was on the subject of e mind in prehistory: archaeological interpretation and evolutionary theory. e flavour of this work is given by a quotation from