References

Daniel, G. 1967. The Origins and Growth of Archaeology. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.

Morris, I. 1994. “Archaeologies of Greece.” In Classical Greece: Ancient Histories and Modern Archaeologies, 8–47. Ed. I. Morris. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Britain, Prehistoric Archaeology

Scholars writing about the prehistoric archaeology of Britain have played a central role in the development of archaeology in the Anglo-Saxon world. Given this fact, it is remarkable that no substantial, book-length history of British archaeology has yet been written. This observation is even more striking when we consider that archaeologists such as glyn daniel (1943, 1964, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1981) and stuart piggott, not to mention vere gordon childe, j. g. d. clark, and david clarke, have made such significant contributions to the historiography of archaeology generally.

Of course, there are studies of specific episodes or periods in the history of archaeology in Britain. Graham Parry (1995), Piggott (1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1985), and Michael Hunter (1975) have written illuminatingly about the history of antiquarianism, particularly about the work of william stukeley, william camden, john aubrey, and others. Barry Marsden (1984) has produced an often amusing (and richly detailed) account of the activities of antiquaries and archaeologists during the nineteenth century. Analyses of the role of archaeologists such as lord avebury (Sir John Lubbock) and augustus pitt rivers in the passage of heritage-preservation legislation in the nineteenth century (Chapman 1989a; Chippindale 1983; Murray 1990) have appeared alongside detailed discussions of the discovery of high human antiquity (Grayson 1983; Murray 1997; Van Riper 1996). In addition, more specific discussions of changing perceptions of sites such as Stonehenge (Chippindale 1985), the historiographic significance of sites such as the Glastonbury Lake Village (Coles, Goodall, and Minnitt 1992) and Little Woodbury (excavated by gerhard bersu) (Evans 1989), or the history of British Paleolithic archaeology (Davis and Charles 1999; Roberts 1999; Roe 1981a; Spencer 1990) have provided much-needed context to broader considerations. And notable archaeologists have been encouraged to indulge in autobiography (see, for example, Daniel and Chippindale 1989), complementing a growing list of biographies and biographical essays (particularly those of Gordon Childe, Pitt Rivers, sir flinders petrie, gertrude bell, and T.E. Lawrence, as well as the entries in both volumes of The Great Archaeologists, ed. Tim Murray, 1999).

At a larger scale historians of science such as P. Levine (1986) have explored the professionalization of British archaeology within the context of British history. And some general histories of archaeology, including those written by G.E. Daniel (1975) and B.G. Trigger (1987), in the course of reconstructing the origins and growth of archaeology and the archaeological perspective, have provided an outline of the history of prehistoric archaeology in Britain. These overviews have to some extent been matched by the introductory chapters to surveys of British prehistoric archaeology, such as those by T. Darvill (1987, 13–27), J. Hunter and I. Ralston (1999), I. Longworth and J. Cherry (1986), C. Renfrew (1972), and D. Roe (1981b).

Notwithstanding the importance of these general overviews, however, our understanding of the context of archaeology and archaeological knowledge in British society is still quite rudimentary. A great deal of fundamental research into all aspects of that history remains to be done. In recent years some attention has been given to the need to study the histories of county and metropolitan archaeological societies (particularly those founded in the nineteenth century), and considerable encouragement has been given to efforts to explore the lives of the less famous British archaeologists (especially women—see, for example, M. Diaz-Andreu and M.L.S. Sorensen 1998). But there is still a very long way to go.

This state of affairs is all the more curious when we consider the major role played by British archaeology (and archaeologists) in the development of archaeological theory in the last