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in 1967–1968. His honors and awards include the Viking Fund Medal in Anthropology (1960), election to the National Academy of Science (1962), and the Distinguished Service Award from the American Anthropological Association.

Robert C. Dunnell

Royal Archaeological Institute

The Royal Archaeological Institute (RAI) is one of the older archaeological societies in Great Britain and has a tradition based on the broadest study of the past, a study that encompasses aspects of the art and architectural history of Britain and adjacent areas as well as the full temporal range from the Paleolithic to the early modern periods.

In December 1843, a group of people with a passionate interest in the past came together to form a new national organization to promote their antiquarian interests, which were becoming increasingly popular at the time. They acted out of disillusionment with the only existing national body, the society of antiquaries of london, which was by then effectively moribund. The new group was drawn from a wider social spectrum than the members of the Society of Antiquaries, but it remained largely drawn from the London establishment.

The organization was founded as the British Archaeological Association and organized the first national archaeological congress, which was held in Canterbury, England, in 1844. The meeting was a major success, but there was a serious dispute over the rights to the publication of the congress, which led to a split in the membership. The result was the birth of two separate organizations: one kept the name British Archaeological Association; the other styled itself the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland but retained ownership of the journal that had been established—the Archaeological Journal has been published annually ever since). The latter organization became the Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland in 1866, and in 1962, it received a royal charter and dropped the reference to Great Britain and Ireland from its title.

Through the nineteenth century, the RAI became firmly established as the center of archaeology and antiquarian studies in Britain. Its members were eclectically drawn from the British establishment and, at times, included influential politicians and thinkers. The pattern of meetings established in the early years continues today. Through the winter, there are monthly meetings in London, at which lectures and reports on research in archaeology and architectural history are presented. In the summer, there is a residential meeting, lasting a week, for which participants travel to a locale, visit key buildings and monuments, and listen to talks about them. In more recent years, these activities have been supplemented by day-long excursions at other times of the year. The institute also has a long tradition of sponsoring fieldwork and research. Most notably, it engaged in a broad-based project to study the origins of the medieval castle during the 1960s. Some of the most distinguished of British archaeologists (e.g., Sir Alfred Clapham, Dame Joan Evans, christopher hawkes, Sir John Lubbock [lord avebury], and sir mortimer wheeler) have served as officers of the organization over the years.

One of the enduring legacies of the institute is its publications. The Archaeological Journal has appeared annually since the 1840s, and a series of other volumes have appeared as well. The proceedings of the summer meetings, sometimes printed in the Journal, otherwise as separate volumes, represent a key source for understanding the topography, archaeology, and buildings of the British Isles. Equally, the articles in the earlier volumes of the Journal represent a prime source for understanding the emergence of the discipline, its concepts, and its methods of study. During the twentieth century, the Journal published a variety of key articles for understanding the archaeology of Britain. For many years until 1978 the Journal attempted to provide an annual review of research progress