- Richard J. C. Atkinson
:"Alternative meaning: Richard Atkinson (educator)"
Richard John Copland Atkinson CBE (
20 January 1920 –10 October 1994 [http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Obituary/1994/science.html] ) was a British prehistorian andarchaeologist .He was born in
Sherborne ,Dorset and went toSherborne School and thenMagdalen College, Oxford , readingPPE . During theSecond World War hisQuaker beliefs meant that he was aconscientious objector ; in 1944 he became Assistant Keeper of Archaeology at theAshmolean Museum . He also produced a theory on the creation ofStonehenge .He investigated sites including Stonehenge,
Silbury Hill ,West Kennet Long Barrow andWayland's Smithy , and was a friend and collaborator of Stuart Piggott and John F.S. Stone. His Silbury work was part of an abortedBBC documentary series on the monument. In 1949 he was appointed a lecturer atEdinburgh University , and in 1958 moved toUniversity College, Cardiff to become its first professor of archeology. He remained at Cardiff until he retired in 1983. He received the CBE in 1979, and work continued long after his death in writing up his prolific excavations.Atkinson was famous for his practical contributions to archaeological technique and his pragmatic solutions to on-site problems, which were listed in the handbook he wrote called "Field Archaeology".
Professor Richard Atkinson directed excavations at Stonehenge for the
Ministry of Works between 1950 and 1964.English Heritage holds his collection of over 2,000 record photographs in its public archive theNational Monuments Record . A selection of around 200 photographs can be viewed online on the ViewFinder website. [ [http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/viewfinder ViewFinder - Home ] ]References
Further reading
* Atkinson, R J C, Stonehenge (Penguin Books). 1956.
External links
* [http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/viewfinder View Atkinson's photos of Stonehenge] Use Advanced Search/Collections/Atkinson to view all online images held by English Heritage
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