Waterman, Dudley Mark (1917–79), archaeologist, was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, of Somerset stock. On leaving school he worked in an architect's office in Southampton, where he developed his skill in drawing. Several great archaeologists lived in the vicinity at the time, and he had the opportunity to work on some of their excavations. In 1938, at the age of 20, he visited hill forts in Brittany with Mortimer Wheeler, and also toured there with Edward Martyn Jope (1915–96), who was to become first professor of archaeology in QUB, and Ralegh Radford. He taught architectural drawing at London university, and obtained, soon after the second world war, his first post as archaeologist in York museum, after which he became curator of Carisbrook Castle museum on the Isle of Wight.
In June 1950 he was appointed principal inspector of ancient monuments in the archaeological survey, Ministry of Finance – the senior of the first two posts in archaeology created by the government of Northern Ireland, the other going to A. E. P. ‘Pat’ Collins, their brief being to undertake an archaeological survey of Northern Ireland. This they planned on a county basis, beginning with Co. Down, where a series of research excavations were conducted to back up fieldwork. The excavation reports were published in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology (UJA). The survey, which included buildings of architectural importance up to 1921, was completed after twelve years’ intensive work. The Archaeological survey of County Down, the first of its kind in Ireland, was published in 1966. It includes Waterman's fine plans of sites and elevations of buildings, along with his renowned lettering, together with Collins's complementary drawings of finds and photographs. After this massive achievement, Waterman's other main work was the ten-years’ excavation at the complex site of Navan Fort, Co. Armagh. While most of the drawings and a great deal of the writing-up had been completed before his death, the report was not published until many years after his death (D. M. Waterman, Excavations at Navan Fort 1961–71: Northern Ireland archaeological monographs no. 3, completed and edited by C. J. Lynn (1997)).
After Navan, Waterman carried out excavations in the relatively unexplored area of Co. Fermanagh, including Tully Castle and the monastic site on Devenish island, Lower Lough Erne. Waterman had a powerful influence on the understanding of sites in Ireland, and drew attention to the relevance of medieval and more recent monuments. He also turned his energies to the conservation of buildings and monuments. He edited the UJA, which published over fifty of his excavation reports, for several years before his death. He was awarded an MA honoris causa by QUB (1974). Waterman married Cara Parkes of Co. Sligo; they lived in Sandown Park, Belfast. He died in post on 17 May 1979, and was cremated at Roselawn, Belfast. A half-length photographic portrait appears with his obituary in UJA.