Mick Aston Death
Mick passed away on June 24, 2013 at the age of 66 in Somerset, England, UK.
When did Mick Aston die?
June 24, 2013How old was Mick Aston when died?
66Where did Mick Aston die? What was the location of death?
Somerset, England, UK
Mick Aston Birthday and Date of Death
Mick Aston was born on July 1, 1946 and died on June 24, 2013. Mick was 66 years old at the time of death.
Birthday: July 1, 1946
Date of Death: June 24, 2013
Age at Death: 66
Mick Aston - Biography
Michael Antony "Mick" Aston, FSA (1 July 1946 – 24 June 2013) was an English archaeologist who specialised in Early Medieval landscape archaeology. Over the course of his career, he lectured at both the University of Bristol and University of Oxford and published fifteen books on archaeological subjects. A keen populariser of the discipline, Aston was widely known for appearing as the resident academic on the Channel 4 television series Time Team from 1994 to 2011.
Aston was known for his "unfailing commitment and integrity", with his life being dominated by "old-fashioned idealism and loyalty". He was a vegetarian and a naturist, as well as an anarchist and an atheist. Describing himself as "a keen European", a friend of his noted that he "railed against right wing politics, reserving special venom for Margaret Thatcher, and fought against all manner of authority, including university paperwork, and most especially if it came in a uniform."
His hobbies included gardening, pottery, astronomy, listening to classical music and cooking. He supported a number of charities and other causes, including Greenpeace, the Woodland Trust, Oxfam and Sightsavers International. He liked to live a private, hermit-like life, and once commented that "For some of the time I feel I could be a monk" but that he "couldn't cope with the celibacy." A self-described "solitary person", he found it somewhat annoying being a television celebrity and being recognised by members of the public.
Aston had a son, James, and a stepdaughter, Kathryn, both children of his former partner Carinne Allinson, with whom he broke up in 1998. He later entered into a relationship with landscape historian Teresa Hall, who survived him on his death. He lived in what he called "a rather grotty '60s bungalow" in Somerset. The reporter Steve Eggington visited Aston's home in 2008, where he noted that it was filled with "a labyrinth of books and maps, seemingly with different projects at different stages in each room."
Aston commented that throughout his life he suffered from poor health; he was afflicted with aspergillosis from the early 1980s, and was also asthmatic. He suffered a brain haemorrhage in March 2003, and was hospitalised for two weeks. The experience sent him into depression for eighteen months, during which time he read the autobiography of actress Jane Lapotaire, who had gone through the same experience, something which he believed aided his recovery more than anything else.
