DR Tom Loy

Dr.
Tom Loy
Molecular archaeologist, was born in Los Angeles, California in February, 1942
and died at his home in Brisbane Australia in October 2005 of natural causes. At
the time of his death, he was a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Science,
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. His research interests included
hominid tool use at Pliocene/Early Pleistocene cave sites in South Africa, tools of
the Italo/Austrian Ice Man Mummy (Ötzi), and theory and logic in archaeology.
Early Life
Thomas Harold Loy was born in 1942 in Los Angeles, USA. His father,
Harold Amos Loy, was a fourth generation Methodist minister. His mother,
Maxine, was the daughter of Thomas Max Reitz, a Kansas farmer. All T.
Max Reitz's sons became Ph.Ds in agriculture. Maxine, an accomplished
singer and pianist, received a BA in music. When Tom was born, W.W.II
was underway. Our parents were strong advocates of what was called in
those days the Social Gospel. They were pacifists, and marched against
the war in the streets of Los Angeles. When Japanese Americans were sent
off to internment camps, our parents helped care for their property until
they could return. When the Japanese Americans were finally released at
the end of the war, Harold preached from his pulpit that they should be
welcomed back to the community as loyal Americans. Some in the
congregation stood up and walked out. During the 1950's, black
Americans were struggling for equality and freedom in the US. In
response, Maxine and Harold developed a program of Black (Negro)
Spirituals, which they performed in churches in Southern California,
teaching racial tolerance to white audiences.
When they moved to Glendale Arizona in the late 1940's Harold and
Maxine carried their social ministry to the native Navajo peoples in that
area. Tom became friends with the Navajo children. Tom strongly
identified with the Navajo, and from then on his life was devoted to
understanding indigenous people of the world, and their cultures.
Tom loved the out-of-doors. Our family was poor, so our vacations were
mostly camping trips to the Mojave Desert or backpacking in the Sierras.
Tom and Dad found a Pleistocene horse jawbone, dinosaur bones,
trilobites, and many kinds of semiprecious gems. Tom became a proficient
outdoorsman through the Boy Scouts, able to live in the wilderness on his
own for weeks on end by age 16.
Upon graduation from Chino High School in 1959, he attended Redlands

University. He was strongly influenced by the Beat poetry movement in
San Francisco, and and became a fine poet himself (see his poem below).
He once rode a Lambretta motor scooter 500 miles to San Francisco to
attend poetry readings at City Lights Bookstore and to see trumpeter
Miles Davis at the Hungry I. He graduated with a B.Sc. (Geology) from
Redlands University in 1964.
He served his country in the Army Reserve. Afterwards, he moved to

Alaska, taking a job as a cartographer for United States Geological Survey,
later working on an oil rig, and prospecting. He routinely went
prospecting for months at a time in the Arctic outback, looking mostly for
nickel. He told fascinating stories of his adventures with blizzards, bears,
moose, and near starvation when he missed a supply drop from a bush
pilot. (He said he killed an old goat to survive until the next drop.) He
loved the roughneck culture of Alaska, and enjoyed playing washtub bass
with the Glacier Valley Boys at the Double Muskie restaurant and bar. He
eventually completed an MA (Anthropology/Archaeology), from the
University of British Columbia. He performed Field work in the Frazier
River Valley, Muncho Lake, and in Yoho Park in the Canadian Rockies. Tom
could read the earth like an open book. His facility with living off the land
gave him an uncanny ability to identify archeological sites and find fossil
remains. His focus was always on the people who had used the artifacts
he found.
Blood from a Stone
About this time, Tom made a discovery that was to propel him into the
forefront of science and establish his world class reputation. He was
personally responsible for the creation of an entire sub discipline of
archaeological research known as residue analysis.
In 1981, while working for the British Columbia Provincial Museum, he

became curious about the organic residues on the surface of the stone
tools he'd been excavating. The received analytical wisdom of the time
was that this was just dirt to be washed off before curating the artifacts.
Tom asked the elementary question: what was this material? Tom used
the new electron microscope at his museum to photograph the residue of
an unwashed obsidian arrow point at high magnification. A medical
scientist colleague of his confirmed that the residue included red blood
cells preserved on the face of the artifact. The discovery site of the
arrowhead was thousands of years old, which meant that the residue was
that old as well.
This raised many questions: how could the proteins on the artifact survive
intact for a millennium? What kind of animal's blood was this? If its type
could be determined, a new window would be opened into the hunting
habits of ancient indigenous peoples worldwide. Was this preservation
common, or a fluke? In what circumstances and over what ages could
such residues be found? His answers to these questions led to the
publication of his famous paper (Science 1983). His work struck a chord in
the public imagination. Numerous newspaper articles talked about the
scientist who could extract blood from a stone. There is no doubt that Tom
was the world pioneer in this field. And there is no doubt that being a
pioneer is risky and dangerous in science. His theories were angrily
challenged by some, and his work came under suspicion even in the court
of public opinion. In the mid 1980's, the Museum administration proved
that it had no spine for the controversy by firing him from his position on
trumped-up charges.
But he shortly received an opportunity to continue his research in
Australia via an appointment to Australian National University, Canberra.
He was able to refine his research methods, teach, and finish his Ph.D.
With the help of his colleagues, the thesis of his Science article was
eventually vindicated, and he gained an international reputation for his
work, with publications in such journals as Antiquity (see References).
Later, he accepted a position at UQ in Brisbane where he lived and worked
until his death.
Ötzi
As an indication of his high esteem, he was invited by the authorities in
Innsbruck, Austria to help investigate Ötzi the Iceman, arguably the
prehistoric archeological find of the last century. Tom studied Ötzi's tools,
clothes, and other artifact residues, and later helped establish the
Iceman’s cause of death. To be a member of such a select team of
scientists reflected well not only on Tom, but also on the scientific
establishment in Australia that provided him with a home for his research
for over 20 years.
Passing
As he was nearing retirement, he was also beginning to wear out
physically. He suffered all his life from a hereditary blood deficiency. He
complained of headaches and feeling faint. He was not well. He consulted
a doctor, took medical leave that was due to him, and planned to go to
Camooweal, site of much of his recent research, to open an archeological
field school there. Because he chose to conduct research in such far-flung
places in the world, he was out of reach of family and friends for long
stretches of time. He always had a suitcase with clean clothes ready to fly
off on his next adventure, which you'd typically hear about only when he
got back. He never made it to Camooweal, but died in his house. He is
survived by his children, Curtis, Inge, Kim, Adam, Max, and Emma.
Tom had a deep appreciation for the ephemeral nature of his human
existence, as illustrated in his poem "Los Serranos," excerpted below. The
setting of the poem is the mist shrouded rolling hills of his home in Chino,
California where he and his father occasionally played golf together.

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Dr.

Upon graduation from Chino High School in 1959, he attended Redlands

He served his country in the Army Reserve. Afterwards, he moved to

In 1981, while working for the British Columbia Provincial Museum, he

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