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Archaeology and archaeologists

This month the Hub highlights descriptions for the papers of antiquarians (who largely study ancient Greece and Rome), anthropologists (who study cultures), and archaeologists.

July 15th-24th, 2006, is National Archaeology Week. Human history dates back perhaps some two million years, but writing has only been developed for a few thousand, and of course not every culture has written records. Archaeologists therefore study the past through its material remains, cultural artefacts, and the shaping of the environment. It's not just about excavations, and not just about ancient times - archaeologists also look at industrial heritage, for example, and even the peace camp in Berkshire at the end of the last century.

Right: At around 800 years old, Fountains Mill, Yorkshire, is the finest surviving example of a monastic watermill. Photograph by Jenny Mitcham, University of York. Image courtesy of Archaeology Image Bank.

Collections

• Gertrude Bell (1868-1926): traveller, photographer, archaeologist and diplomat; established the Baghdad Museum in the 1920s
• William Moir Calder (1881-1960): Professor of Greek at the University of Manchester; carried out fieldwork for the American Society for Archaeological Research in Asia Minor, 1925-1954.
• Miles Crawford Burkitt (1890-1971): biblical scholar and archaeologist.
• James Houston Baxter (1894-1973): Regius Divinity Professor in the University of St Andrews; excavated the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors in Istanbul.
• Elizabeth Raistrick (fl. 1930) and Arthur Raistrick (1896-1991): industrial archaeologists with a particular interest in Yorkshire.
• Wilfrid J Hemp (died 1962) and John Davies Knatchbull Lloyd (1900-1978): Hemp was secretary to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, and Lloyd was secretary to the Council for the Preservation of Rural Wales
• Calvin Bampfylde Wells (1908-1978): played an important role in developing palaeopathology (the study of ancient disease).
• Maurice W. Barley (1909-1991): Professor of Archaeology; best known for his research into English vernacular architecture.
• Jacquetta Hawkes (1910-1996): archaeologist, author, official of the Ministry of Education and of Unesco.
• Leslie Alcock (born 1925): Honorary Keeper of the Archaeological and Anthropological Collections of the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow.
• Kenneth E. Moxon-Browne (fl. 1967-1999): amateur archaeologist with an interest in Devon's Roman roads.
• Cambridge Antiquarian Society: includes a study of Cambridgeshire records in the 11th-century Domesday Book.
• Greater Manchester Textile Mills Survey: in the late 1980s identified and recorded the surviving textile mills within Greater Manchester..
• Hampshire Archaeological Committee: co-ordinates 'rescue' archaeology in Hampshire, aiming to prevent the loss of archaeological evidence under threat by building development.
• Southampton University Industrial Archaeology Group: Southampton and the New Forest's local history and industrial archaeology.
• Anglo-Saxon bookbindings: X-rays of Anglo-Saxon and 12th-century English bookbindings.
• Coptic manuscripts: includes papyri found by Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie (1853-1942).
• Kom-Ed-Dik Excavations: the excavation of Kom-Ed-Dik (Alexandria, Egypt) began in 1947.

Links

• National Archaeology Week: July 15th-24th, 2006 (Council for British Archaeology)
• Archive Archaeology Project: emphasizing the value of material held in archives and museums (University College London, Institute of Archaeology)
• Fountains Mill: Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire; Cistercian abbey and World Heritage site (National Trust)
• Pitt Rivers Museum: museum of anthropology and world archaeology (University of Oxford)
• Hunterian Museum: over a million items ranging from meteorites to Mackintosh and mummies (University of Glasgow)
• Ashmolean Museum: Britain's oldest public museum (University of Oxford)
• Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art: developing scientific methods for the study of the past (University of Oxford)
• Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology: local antiquities, plus archaeological artefacts from around the world (University of Cambridge)
• common ground: researching the material culture and meaning of Greenham Common Women's Peace Camps (Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton)
• Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies: researching life and culture in England before the Norman Conquest (The University of Manchester)
• Durham University History of Archaeology: research grouping (Durham University)
• London Archaeological Archive & Research Centre: holds records of over 5,000 sites and projects in London (Museum of London)
• Archaeology Data Service: supports research, learning, and teaching with high quality digital resources (Arts & Humanities Data Service)

• National Trust: charity which owns and cares for many archaeological sites.
• National bodies which protect and promote the historic environment: Cadw; English Heritage; Historic Scotland; Northern Ireland Built Heritage
• National Monuments Record: the UK's largest archive for the built environment.
• National Monuments Record of Wales
• Northern Ireland Monuments & Buildings Record
• Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
• Nautical Archaeology Society: charity which promotes Britain's underwater cultural heritage.
• Society of Antiquaries: learned society founded in 1707
• Modern Antiquarian: online guide to prehistoric Britain.
• World Heritage: twenty of Britain's cultural heritage sites appear on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco)

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