Richard J. C. Atkinson
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- Alternative meaning: Richard Atkinson (educator)
Richard John Copland Atkinson CBE (January 20, 1920 – October 10, 1994[1]) was a British prehistorian and archaeologist.
He was born in Dorset and went to Sherborne School and then Magdalen College, Oxford, reading PPE. During the Second World War his Quaker beliefs meant that he served in non-combatant roles in 1944 he became Assistant Keeper of Archaeology at the Ashmolean Museum. He also produced a theory on the creation of Stonehenge and advised on its possible uses
He investigated sites including Stonehenge, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow and Wayland's Smithy and was a friend and collaborator of Stuart Piggott and John F.S. Stone. His Silbury work was part of an aborted BBC documentary series on the monument. In 1949 he was made a lecturer at Edinburgh University and in 1958 moved to 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 the National Monuments Record. A selection of around 200 photographs can be viewed online on the ViewFinder website.[1]
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Atkinson, R J C, Stonehenge (Penguin Books). 1956.
[edit] External links
- View Atkinson's photos of StonehengeUse Advanced Search/Collections/Atkinson to view all online images held by English Heritage
