Terry T. Marsh (25 July 1938–30 July 2021)

Abstract

Terry T. Marsh (25 July 1938–30 July 2021) Cyler Conrad Click for larger view View full resolution Terry Marsh excavating at Spirit Cave, Thailand, in early March 1971 (Photograph by Chet Gorman, courtesy of Joyce White and the Institute for Southeast Asian Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania Museum) On 30 July 2021, Terry T. Marsh passed away at the age of 83 at his home in Auckland, New Zealand. An archaeologist who was as ubiquitous as he was mystic, Marsh had participated in excavations and research at some of the best-known sites in mainland Southeast Asia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although he published only a few archaeological reports, his interest, kindness, friendship, and dedication made a significant contribution to our knowledge of Thailand and mainland Southeast Asian prehistory. [End Page 261] Marsh attended undergraduate school at Sacramento State College (now California State University, Sacramento) in 1958–1962. He graduated in spring 1962 with a B.A. in Fine Arts, specifically ceramics. It was during college that Marsh became friends with Chester "Chet" F. Gorman. They were housemates, along with several other students, in a rented home near campus. Although Marsh did not formally graduate with an anthropology degree from Sacramento State College, his journey to archaeology, anthropology, and Thailand began almost immediately after graduation. In spring 1962, Gorman had just finished his first year of graduate school in the Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai'i when he sent Marsh a telegram that simply stated: "SUMMER WORK CAVE EXPLORATION OUTER ISLANDS COME IMMEDIATELY."1 Marsh answered the call, and his journey to Southeast Asia began. While in Hawai'i, Marsh surveyed lava tubes with Gorman as part of a U.S. government project investigating the use of these caves as nuclear fallout shelters. Once their survey was completed, presumably in 1962, Marsh later wrote in an unpublished personal memoir that he "sort of forgot to go home." He continued working in survey for the same company on various projects throughout the islands. After Gorman returned from his first season of archaeological survey in northeast Thailand in 1964, he and Marsh began living in another rented, shared house infamously known as "Sutton's Place." For all its raucousness, living at Sutton's Place put Marsh in contact with several other anthropologists and archaeologists who were colleagues or friends of Gorman's at the University of Hawai'i. One of these housemates-turned-friends was an archaeologist named Donn Bayard. Given Marsh's background in ceramics and experience working in survey throughout Hawai'i, it was no surprise that Bayard asked Marsh to assist him when he returned to northeast Thailand in 1968 for the second season of archaeological excavation at a prominent site called Non Nok Tha. Marsh's travel to northeast Thailand was an adventure. Excavations began at Non Nok Tha in early February 1968, so Marsh likely left Hawai'i in late 1967 or January 1968. Either way, after booking a berth on a passenger ship from Honolulu to Hong Kong, he immediately became seasick. Medicine helped–after an initial refusal to take it which he blamed on being "a young male"–but Marsh later recalled that the vessel would roll so violently that the swimming pool would slosh and spill over the sides of the ship. Marsh also noted that the vessel had a herd of cattle in the hold which he enjoyed visiting. He also enjoyed later eating them during any one of the six daily meals served on the ship. Marsh's memoirs and notes are full of food descriptions–he clearly enjoyed eating, trying new experiences, and immersing himself in new cultures. His flair for writing helped capture these moments. After arriving in Hong Kong, Marsh caught another passenger ship which was sailing for Singapore, but once landed, decided that, since he "was on the same landmass as Thailand," it would be possible to buy a Honda 90 motorbike and ride north. Marsh was able to cross the Singapore-Malaysian border without incident, but once he reached the border with Thailand his fortunes changed. He was not allowed to cross and was instead forced to exchange his motorbike for a train...