Strata: Reuben Bullard (1928–2004)

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Reuben G. Bullard, a scientist who bridged the gap between geology and archaeology, passed away in July at his home in Independence, Kentucky. A classically trained pianist, gifted artist and versatile handyman, Bullard (pictured at right) was the first geologist to be on-staff at an archaeological dig in Israel, at Tell Gezer (1966–1973).

Bullard’s early career was in chemistry, and he remained active in this field as a senior chemist at the Andrew Jergens Company in Cincinnati until 1968. His interests, however, were wide-ranging: He earned degrees in theology, historical geography and classics, and received his Ph.D. in geology/archaeology from the University of Cincinnati. He combined these areas in his teaching career, teaching courses on geology, Bible and ancient history as professor of geology and archaeology at Cincinnati Bible College and Seminary (beginning in 1961), and from 1969 also as an assistant professor of geology at the University of Cincinnati.

In addition to his work at Tell Gezer, Bullard served as a geological consultant for excavations in Tunisia (Carthage), Cyprus (Kourion), Israel (Khirbet Shema, Shechem, Caesarea Maritima, Tell Dan) and Jordan (Heshbon, Abila). He was president of the Cincinnati Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (1974–1979) and served as a trustee for both the American Schools of Oriental Research and the Near East Archaeological Society. Bullard contributed chapters on the role of geology in field archaeology to several works, most notably A Manual of Field Excavation, edited by W.G. Dever and H. Darrell Lance.