Issue 105

Mar / Apr 2009

Contents

news

Welsh find may be key to mysterious mounds

Sissinghurst Castle has Elizabethan pavilion

Engraved stone found at ancient ritual site in Cheshire

In the press

In Brief & Phase 2

features

THE BIG DIG: Catholme
Henry Chapman on extraordinary prehistoric earthwork remains in Staffordshire

The bad teeth dividend
Karen Hardy reports important new evidence in how poor oral hygiene is key to understanding early diets

Wroxeter (Viroconium)
Roger White on 150 years since the first dig at Roman town

Shopping and Digging - NEW
James Dixon explains an unexpected archaeological story behind the changing faces of our towns

spoilheap

Pension advice from an archaeologist – theory you can trust

requiem

Our fourth annual celebration of antiquity lovers who have died in 2008

on the web

Recommended websites
The new CBA website and Caroline Wickham-Jones goes in search of world heritage sites

letters

your views and responses

Archaeology in Britain

Mike Heyworth takes stock in very difficult times with a special focus on the crisis

ISSN 1357-4442

Editor Mike Pitts

requiem

Our fourth annual celebration of antiquity lovers

In tribute to their everlasting contributions to the story of our origins and history, British Archaeology brings together the names of some of the archaeologists and lovers of antiquity who died in 2008. Feature compiled by Mike Pitts.

January

• John Bailey, structural engineer and authority on medieval timber-framed buildings of south-east England, 71
• Edward Bramah, tea and coffee merchant and founder of the Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee, London, 76
• Keith Gardner, art historian, leader of fieldwork on Lundy Island, codirector of excavations at Cadbury Congresbury hillfort 1968–73, chairman of CBA South West, 75

February

• Charles Browne, assistant to Bristol area excavations from 1950s, president of the Keynsham & Saltford Local History Society, editor of the CBA South West Newsletter, 83
• Christopher Dalton, historic buildings photographer for the National Trust, National Monuments Record, Shell guides and others, author of Bells & Belfries of Dorset, 66
• John Hopkins, 53 years with the Society of Antiquaries of London, from 14-year-old assistant to librarian 1964–86, vice-president of the Royal Archaeological Institute, 89
• Geoff Mein, trustee of the Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust and chairman of the Usk Civic Society, who conducted extensive excavations at Trostrey, near Usk, 85
• Peter Powell, actor and local councillor, chairman of the Islington Archaeology & History Society, 73

March

• Neil Cameron, architectural investigator at the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments for Scotland who worked on threatened and listed building surveys, 45
• Nicolas Coldstream, classical archaeologist, 80 (see below)
• Denis Cosgrove, cultural and historical geographer at Royal Holloway, University of London and UCLA, 59
• Francesca Serra Ridgway, leading scholar of Etruscan and Italic archaeology at University of Edinburgh and the Institute of Classical Studies, London, whose publications included the artefacts from the Fondo Scataglini necropolis excavations, 71

Nicolas Coldstream was a leading classical archaeologist who specialised in Greek culture and history throughout the Mediterranean in the era of the early city states, 1100–700BC. Born in Lahore, now in Pakistan, he read classics at King's College, Cambridge, then taught at Shrewsbury School for four years. His archaeological career began in 1956 at the British Museum's Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, from where he moved to the British School at Athens as Macmillan student, researching Geometric pottery (1957–60). His Greek Geometric Pottery (1968/2008) and Geometric Greece (1977/2003) are regarded as key texts of the ancient world. He took his first reaching post at Bedford College, London in 1960, becoming professor of Aegean archaeology there, and later Yates professor of classical art and archaeology at UCL (1983–92). He rose to be vice-president of the British School at Athens. He excavated, with George Huxley, a Minoan settlement at Kastri, on Kythera, leading to one of his many important publications on Knossian pottery. Other excavation publications included Knossos: the Sanctuary of Demeter (1973) and Knossos North Cemetery (1996). The British Academy awarded him its Kenyon medal for classical studies. He was a talented pianist and chairman of UCL's Chamber Music Club (1989-91); at the time of his death he was rehearsing a Brahms piano quartet for performance at UCL. Telegraph Apr 4, Times Apr 9, Independent Apr 15, Guardian Jul 4.

April

• Thomas Cocke, historian of English cathedral and church restoration, investigator at the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, chief executive the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies, 59
• Tina Hayes, technician at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton who used strontium isotopes to track movements of ancient animals, 38
• David Johnson, House of Lords clerk of the records who logged and conserved parliamentary documents, 73
• Bob Lassam, curator of the Fox Talbot Museum of Photography in Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, 94
• Norman Quinnell, south-west England field investigator for the Ordnance Survey and Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, conducting significant work on the Isles of Scilly, Bodmin Moor and Tintagel, president of the Cornwall Archaeological Society, 82
• Jack Skinner, boatman who saved the Oxford Canal in 1967 by tricking transport minister Barbara Castle into believing that it was still navigable, 88

May

• John Ashurst, leading authority on cleaning and repair of historic stonework, research architect at the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works' Ancient Monuments Division, later working for English Heritage and in private practice, author of Practical Building Conservation, 71
• Michael Hendy, economic historian and expert on Byzantine coinage, assistant curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and lecturer in numismatics at University of Birmingham, 66
• Alan Hinks, user of traditional techniques for building historic ship replicas, among them the Nonsuch, the Golden Hinde, a Viking longship and a Roman galley, 80
• Roger Warner, Quaker and Oxfordshire antique dealer who helped museums acquire objects from pottery and farm instruments to textiles and furniture, 95

June

• John Barnes, film historian and cofounder with his twin brother of the Barnes Museum of Cinematography, St Ives, whose collection is now split between Turin and Hove, 87. BritMovie | Bioscopic
• Anthony Cronk, active member of the Kent Archaeological Society, including its churches committee, 90
• John Dore, specialist in Roman pottery of north Africa and Britain, curator of Hadrian's Wall museums at Corbridge, Chesters and Housesteads, head of mission of the Society for Libyan Studies, director of Newcastle University's The Archaeological Practice, 56
• Tony McGinnity, seaman and shipbroker, first secretary of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society and saviour of many historic vessels, 70

July

• James Cherry, worker for UKAEA (alt url) and BNFL who found many prehistoric and Roman sites fieldwalking in Cumbria, president Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, 87
• Christina Colyer, a Roman diploma student at the London Institute of Archaeology, who became first director of the Lincoln Archaeological Trust in 1972. She mostly left archaeology to teach in France and founded an animal charity in Italy, 64
• Peter Rea, indexer who contributed to many archaeology books, notably for the CBA and Oxford Archaeology, 60
• Jack Vaughan, engineer and defender of London heritage, vice president of the Woolwich and District Antiquarian Society, honorary president of the Greenwich Industrial History Society, 91

August

• John Barron, classical historian and archaeologist, 74 (see below)
• Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, farmer, leader of Kent County Council, chairman of the Local Government Association and of English Heritage, 66
• David Lumsden, feudal baron, chairman of the Castles of Scotland Preservation Trust who restored the family properties of Cushnie House (built 1688) and Tillycairn Castle (1540), 75
• Arthur Owen, keeper of manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge with special interest in Lincolnshire landscape history, 84
• John van Riemsdijk, keeper of civil and mechanical engineering, Science Museum, London, who organised the collections for the National Railway Museum, York, 83
• Ray Sturtivant, civil servant with lifelong passion for recording early aircraft and aviation history, 82
• Neville Whittaker, architect and campaigner for historic buildings, director of the North East Civic Trust, 76

John Barron, born in Yorkshire and with family roots in Cornwall, made strong marks in both ancient Greek studies and higher education. After a classical degree at University of Oxford, his doctoral work on Samos in the sixth century BC led to his admired book, The Silver Coins of Samos (1966), which followed Greek Sculpture (1965/81); other publications included work on early Greek lyric poetry. In London he taught Latin at Bedford College, archaeology and numismatics at UCL and Greek language and literature at King's College (1971–91); he was director of the Institute of Classical Studies 1984–91. He was a rare academic on the Thatcher government's university funding council (1989–93), when the Barron report oversaw the closure of some classics departments in a successful effort to protect the subject. Under his mastership (1991–2003), St Peter's College, Oxford increased student numbers and the proportion of female students and tutors, and improved its academic position; though his plans to expand into the former Oxford prison were frustrated (if earning him a role in an Inspector Morse novel). He was a popular lecturer, on land and on Swan Hellenic cruises. Telegraph Aug 28, Times Aug 29, Independent Sep 10, Guardian Sep 19.

September

• Fred Boughey, foreman of works at the Ffestiniog railway, 84
• Thomas Braun, classical historian at Merton College, University of Oxford, whose interests included the technology of milling and bread-making, 73; Times Oct 27
• Phyllis Dimond, artist who painted London's historic buildings for the Recording Britain project in the second world war, 96
• Elizabeth Eames, leading specialist in medieval floor tiles at the British Museum's Department of British and Medieval Antiquities, whose excavations included Meaux Abbey kiln, Yorkshire, vice-president of the British Archaeological Association, 90
• Andor Gomme, architectural historian and critic at Keele University, chairman Society of Architectural Historians, 78
• AF Kersting, architectural photographer of Britain, Europe, Middle East and Asia whose clients included the National Trust and Batsford, 91
• Ivor Wilcox, alias Bjarni the Viking, former engineering draughtsman whose Longship Trading Company entranced school children with stories of Viking and Saxon life, 47
• George Zarnecki, historian of Romanesque art who brought to wide attention the little that survived the Dissolution and Reformation of England's medieval religious sculpture, deputy director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, vice-president of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 92

October

• John Hughes, Provost of Leicester, cathedral historian and member of the Leicestershire Archaeological & Historical Society for over 50 years, 84
• Dai Jones, steam train driver, vice-president of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society, 78
• John North, leading historian of science at University of Oxford and University of Groningen, who wrote a detailed treatise on Stonehenge astronomy, 74
• Ralph Pinder-Wilson, Persian scholar and Islamic archaeologist, deputy keeper at the Department of Oriental Antiquities, (British Museum) director of the British Institute of Afghan Studies, Kabul, where he was imprisoned after the Russian invasion, 89
• Bill Putnam, formative archaeology teacher, 78 (see below)
• Andrée Rosenfeld, rock art specialist at the British Museum, Institute of Archaeology, UCL and Australian National University, author with Peter Ucko of Palaeolithic Cave Art, 74
• Frank Walbank, leading classical historian at University of Liverpool, 98

Bill Putnam read classics at University College London, with the archaeology of Roman Britain as a special subject, working with Mortimer Wheeler and WF Grimes on the Cripplegate Roman fort excavation. When teaching in Montgomeryshire, he became secretary of the Cambrian Archaeological Association and was closely involved in the development of CBA Wales. He excavated at Pen y Crocbren Roman fort, Llanfair Caereinion and Carno. In 1967 he moved to the Dorset Institute of Higher Education (later Weymouth College and the precursor of Bournemouth University), as the first lecturer in archaeology at a higher education institution. He excavated at Dewlish villa, Roman Dorchester (including especially its aqueduct) and other Dorset sites. In 1975 he established Britain's first certificate in practical archaeology, later to become the higher national diploma in archaeology (taught at Yeovil College for a time). He was active with CBA Wessex and founding chairman of the Dorset Archaeological Committee, succeeding Colin Renfrew as chairman of the Wessex Archaeological Committee as it began the change to Wessex Archaeology. Among his publications were Roman Dorset and (with John Edwin Wood) The Treasure of Rennes-le-Chateau, a historical response to the theme of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. He was a popular teacher and lecturer. In British Archaeology (Dec 2002) he wrote about finding a War Department fork dated 1939 in an excavation of what was thought to be a prehistoric barrow ditch. Dorset Echo Oct 22, Independent Nov 25

November

• Gillian Braithwaite, student of Roman face pots, 71
• Mary Cra'ster, archaeologist and senior assistant curator of the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Cambridge, 80
• Bernard Feilden, building conservator, 89 (see below)
• Ian Peirce, engineer, armourer, weaponsmith and museum consultant, author of Swords of the Viking Age, 67
• Richard Prentice, historical geographer at University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, specialist in heritage interpretation and cultural tourism, 56
• Hilary Weir, diplomat, secretary of the Architectural Heritage Fund, adviser to the Phoenix Charitable Trust and Prince's Regeneration Trust, author How to Rescue a Ruin, 63

Bernard Feilden was an architect and a leader in building conservation. He was born in Hampstead, London and raised in Canada and Bedford. He trained at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL and, after a war in Iraq, Iran and India, the Architectural Association Inc. He spent most of his career in the Norfolk practice of Feilden and Mawson. His conservation ethic was to follow a building's aesthetic integrity (not necessarily pursuing minimum intervention), which he applied also to the new University of East Anglia campus when he took over from Denys Lasdun. Among many sites on which he worked or advised (defending archaeological excavation) were Norwich Cathedral, York Minister, St Paul's Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace and the historic centre of Chesterfield, for which he received the Europa Nostra silver medal (1982). He advised on the conservation of the dome of the Al-Aqsa mosque, Jerusalem (receiving an Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 1986), the Taj Mahal and the Sun Temple at Konârak, India and the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the terracotta warriors in China (see also 'The First Emperor' exhibition details at the British Museum). Key publications include Conservation of Historic Buildings (1982, current ed 2003) and A Manual for the Management of World Cultural Heritage Sites (1985). He was director of UNESCO's International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (1977–81) and president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites UK (1981–87). He lectured around the world. Telegraph Nov 17, Independent Nov 20, Guardian Nov 21, Times Dec 2

December

• David Charteris, chairman National Trust for Scotland, 96 (see below)
• Alan Everitt, historian of rural landscapes and economies, including special studies in Kent, head of Department of English Local History, University of Leicester, 82
• Angela Simco, landscape archaeologist at Bedfordshire council and then freelance, developing the historic environment record, excavating and advising on planning and monuments in the east midlands, 56
• David Thompson, landscape archaeologist who was principal archaeologist in heritage management and deputy director, Gwynedd Archaeological Trust Ltd, 49
• Colin White, naval historian, vice-president of the Navy Records Society and director Royal Naval Museum, 57

David Charteris, the 12th Earl of Wemyss and 8th of March, was chairman of the council and then president of the National Trust for Scotland 1946–91, and chairman of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments for Scotland 1949–84. After working for the Colonial Service in Africa and the Middle East, he took his inherited seat in the House of Lords, though believed he had no moral right to vote. During his time with the trust (whose head office in Edinburgh is Wemyss House) it was instrumental in protecting threatened areas of natural beauty and battlefield sites such as Culloden (an ancestor raised a regiment for Bonnie Prince Charlie in the '45 rebellion; another died at Flodden), and acquired many stately homes in an era when demolition was a common danger. At the commission he saw the creation of the National Monuments Record of Scotland, with the transfer of the Scottish National Buildings Record in 1966, the start of the aerial photography programme in 1976, and the taking on of the supply of archaeological information to the Ordnance Survey in 1983. Independent and Telegraph Dec 15, Scotsman Dec 17, Times Dec 19

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