Mark Watson (archaeologist)

(Richard) Mark Watson (18 July 1906 – 12 March 1979) of London, England and of Nicasio, California, was a British diplomat who developed a special interest in the archaeology of Iceland.

[2] During WW II he served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and in Austria worked for the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program[3] established in 1943 to help protect cultural property in war areas.

Early in his life he developed a passion for Iceland, and first visited that island in 1937, when he organised an expedition with packhorses to remote areas, and returned the next year for more exploration.

He created a breeding program in Iceland and established Wensom Kennels at his ranch at Nicasio, California, having selected and imported ten pure types which he found on isolated farms situated in the most remote valleys and fjords.

He has presented such valuable gifts to this country, expressed such true friendship in his actions, that it is more our own honour, than his, to make him a honorary citizen"[11] and: "I have never met a man of foreign origin that loved Iceland, both the land and the people as faithfully as he did" (Anna S. Snorradóttir, Mark Watson and Glaumbaer).