Archaeological Joint Committee

Correspondence connected with the Archaeological Joint Committee and its interactions with the Royal Asiatic Society. These are:

• Letter from C.J. Gadd, Honorary Secretary, Archaeological Joint Committee, to the Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to send a copy of a letter which has been sent to the Colonial Office, and to ask for its consideration at the next meeting of the Society's Council. Typed, dated 8 April 1832. With this letter is a copy of the letter sent by the Archaeological Joint Committee to the Colonial Office to ask for formal recognition of the Committee. Typed, dated April 1932.
• Letter from Col. Hoysted, Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to the Honorary Secretary, Archaeological Joint Committee, to state that the letter received would be brought before the Council at its next meeting. Typed, dated 13 April 1932.
• Letter from Col. Hoysted, Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to the Honorary Secretary, Archaeological Joint Committee, to state that the Council approve of all the suggestions made in the letter of the Archaeological Joint Committee to the Colonial Office. Typed with printed letterhead, dated 20 April 1932.
• Letter from C.J. Gadd, Honorary Secretary, Archaeological Joint Committee, to the Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to ask the Society to inform the Committee of the name of ithe Society's representative on the Committee. Typed with handwritten list of names of previous representatives, dated April 1943.
• Agenda for the Royal Asiatic Society Council Meeting for 13 May 1943. Point 6 is for discussion of representatives for the Archaeological Joint Committee and delegates to attend the Conference on the Future of Archaeology. Typed.
• Letter from Leonard Woolley to Richard Winstedt to express his honour in being nominated the Society's representative on the Archaeological Joint Committee. Handwritten with printed letterhead, dated 17 May 19443.
• Letter from Edward S.M. Perowne, Solicitor, to Mrs Davis, Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to ask of the outcome of the discussions at the Council Meeting regarding the Archaeological Joint Committee so he can inform the Institute of Archaeology. Handwritten with printed letterhead, dated 27 May 1943.
• "University of London, Institute of Archaeology, Conference on the Future of Archaeology". Letter from Kathleen M. Kenyon, Acting Director, to inform of the upcoming conference to be held from 6-8 August 1943. Printed material with handwritten annotations.
• Letter from President, Royal Asiatic Society, to Kathleen Kenyon to note that the geographical range of the forthcoming conference extends only from Britain to the Middle East, and therefore neglects that of India and the Far East. Typed, dated 11 June 1943.
• Letter from Kathleen M. Kenyon, Acting Director, to Richard Winstedt, President, Royal Asiatic Society to inform of the reasons for not covering the Far East. Typed with printed letterhead, dated 18 June 1943.

The Archaeological Joint Committee was set up by the British Academy in 1918, at the request of the Foreign Office, with the object of securing proper organisation of the control of antiquities. Its intention was to represent British archaeology as a whole.

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Sir Henry Thomas Colebrooke on the 15th March 1823. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV on the 11th August 1824 'for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia'. It continues as a forum for those who are interested in the languages, cultures and history of Asia to meet and exchange ideas.

Open. Please contact the archivist using the email address given here. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

The material is part of the institutional records of the Society from its dealings with other organisations.

This material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2019.

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

These papers were sent and received by the Royal Asiatic Society in the course of its business.

The publication "How to observe in archaeology : suggestions for travellers in the Near and Middle East." by Gorge Francis Hill, prepared at the recommendation of the Archaeological Joint Committee and published by the British Museum, 1920, forms part of our Collections. Details can be found here .