Stuart Piggott

Proc Soc Antic/ Scot, 126 (1996), xiii-xviii Obituary: Stuart Piggott autobiographican Ina l essay publishe Antiquityn di n 1983i , Stuart Piggott admitte incredulito dt y when Gordon Childe, Professor of Archaeology in the University of Edinburgh, said, in the course of a chance meeting in 1945, that he hoped Piggott would succeed him in the Abercromby Chair. The University considered only two names (the other being that of Graham Clarke, later to become Disney Professor in the University of Cambridge), and to Piggott's surprise in the early summer of 1946 offered the chair to him. Edinburgh had a professor, aged only thirty-six, who was new to Scottis determines hwa archaeologyo wh woro de t than on k o t t archaeologbu , a teac o t n i d t hi y an European context. Piggott was one of a small body of academic archaeologists who helped to present British and European prehistor wida o yt e audience both througmediue th bookn s i hf televisionmhi d o san e H . was a wordsmith of great skill. Whether writing for an academic audience or for a more popular market, his beautifully crafted prose has clarity and sparkle. Indeed, in 1947 he published a volume of verse, Fire among Ruins.e th lecture s Hi s showe same dth e thorough preparation, car composin ei - tioskild communicatingn an i l t manarchaeologicao t se y e y H .wa student e th n o sl discovery yb his own enthusiasm for finding out about the past. Under his leadership the Department of Archae- ology at Edinburgh maintained its international reputation and grew into a formidable teaching unit. Several generation students hi f so s undertook important researc wida n ho e rang f subjectseo , includ- mang in y important Scottish themes, reflectin extraordinarn ow s ghi y breadt f interestho endurs Hi . - contributiog in scholarshie th n i mans s ni hi f ypo book majod san r articles, which bring interpretation and synthesis to different archaeological and antiquarian themes that by their nature demand the marshallin f myriago d piece f evidenceso . It is important to recall the circumstances of the creation of the Abercromby Chair, for it has a bearing on why Childe was happy to think of Piggott as an appropriate successor. Piggott's constant citation of the terms of Abercromby's foundation was a significant and lasting influence on how he chos undertakthao y e t developee teachin n h twa ow e researchs d th Departmene hi gn an d o th d an , t of Archaeology. John Abercromby Baroh 5t , n Abercromb f Aboukiyo Tullibodd an r y (1841-1924), was an eminent amateur archaeologist whose work on British Bronze Age pottery showed the import- anc f understandineo g British materia Europeaa n i l n contextbeed ha n e SecretarH . Societe th f yo y from 190 contributed 2an Excavatios it o dt n Fund 1905y B . , however becomd ha e dissatisfieh o , es d with the Society's methods of excavation that he resigned from this position and withdrew funding, and in 1916 he laid the foundation of the Chair of Prehistoric Archaeology through a bequest that e Universitth y would receivs death hi e requirement s n welth a eo , s a l s demande eventuae th f do l incumbent havo e holdet s Th .widea wa r e knowledg archaeologe th f eo Neae f Europyo th rd ean East, to be able to impart his knowledge to the general public, and was to be actively engaged in research. Proficienc Frencn yi Germad somo han t d en an degre Italian ei expecteds nwa . What were Piggott's early contributions to archaeology that caused Childe to consider this young Englishma wortha s na y successo e onlth yn i rchai f prehistorio r c archaeolog Britainn yi ? Stuart Piggot bors chal191n e wa tni broughd th 0an n k i countrp u t f southeryo n England, between Uffington and the Vale of the White Horse in Oxfordshire, where his father's family had lived for I SOCIET v xi ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1996 Illus 1 Professor Stuart Piggott (centre), with Professors Gordon Childe, Richard Atkinson, Graham Clark Christophed ean r Hawkes, Schaffausen, 1950 (Ashmolean Museum). centuries Petersfield an , Hampshiren di , wher teachefathea s s ehi wherd wa r ran wene eh schoolo t . He had early formed the notion that he would be an archaeologist, but had no idea how he might realize that ambition. Things fell into place by a series of erratic coincidences. Having left school criticae th withou f o l e qualifyinon t g elements that would hav forwareo g allowe o t univero dt m dhi - sity (and away from archaeology doubt)employes o n , wa assistann e a h , s da t Readina t g Museum, among the natural history and local archaeological collections. An archaeological note he had written t int parise pu oth s h wa magazin locae th y l eb vicar locae , th picke whers ly b newspaperwa p t ei du ; thus Piggot tCrawford S attentioworkins e cam th G Ordnance wa o eO th t o t f gna o wh , e Surven yo p of RomanMa e th Britain. e worlTh f professionado l archaeolog Englann yi tina s y dcirclwa n ei the 1920s and 1930s, and soon Piggott was known to them all. In 1928, at the age of eighteen; he appointes wa investigaton da r wit Royae hth l Commissio Anciene th Historican d no an t l Monuments in Wales, wher fivr efo e year undertooe sh k fieldwork, including surve Anglesen yi Inventore th r yfo y of that county t othebu , r scholarly wor dones fren kwa eow , times elsewherhi n .i d ean witCurweg C Neolithie du hE th e n H no c enclosur Trundlee th t ea , near Goodwood, Sussex, and with Alexander Keiller on the Neolithic long earthen burial mound on Thickthorn Down in Dorset unsympathetie lefe th H .t c Royal Commissio woro nt s Keiller'ka s archaeological assistant, numbea ann r fivo d fo ef prehistori g o ryear du e sh c site Wessexn si , notabl e greayth t hengf eo Avebury. Later he excavated with Gerhard Bersu at the critically important Iron Age settlement site OBITUARY: STUART PIGGOTT I XV of Little Woodbury. Finally, under the shadow of the war, he and his wife Margaret (Peggy) were member f Charleso s Phillip's small team excavatin Suttoe gth n Hoo ship burial. Wha pedigrea t s ea an excavator t Piggott'Bu . s exceptionally activ alerd ean t min alss dowa fully engaged Trundle Th . e produced an extensive range of Neolithic artefacts that lit the fuse of his scholarship on British Neolithic cultures and their European connections. His own research, particularly on the material in Devizes Museum, laid the foundations for important publications such as his paper in the Proceedings Prehistorice oth f Society whic hWessee gavth s eu x Culture s sensitivHi . e penmanship ensured that his papers were illustrated with clarity and precision. Along wit numbeha f otheo r r archaeologists, Piggott' r servicaerian i wa ss l ewa photograp h interpretation units. While based in Delhi, he used any available leave to visit museums and sites, research which resulte s boohi kn di Prehistoric India, which remaine e firsonld dth an ty synthesis of the subject, and whose scholarship and confident handling of the material make its origins the more astonishing. Piggott's groundin practicalitiee beed th gha n n i f excavatioso recordingd nan n i , artefactual research, and in the preparation of reports. He had an innate ability to gather information (aided by an encyclopaedic and photographic memory) and to see both the wood and the trees. By formidabla d ha e h r e publicatiowa e th f o d nth een record t lackebu , d formal qualifications 194n I . 5 became h membeea t John'S f ro s College, Oxford begad an , n worthesia n Williakn o so m Stukeley, the 18th-century antiquary, but even before the thesis was completed and the B Litt awarded, the invitatio Edinburg the takn to eup h chai beehad rn received interes antiquariaHis . the in t n tradition was maintained throughout his life. An engaging volume on the Druids was published in 1968. In 197 gatheree 7h d several papers together int volumoa f collecteeo d essays, Ruins Landscape.a n i retiremens Inhi re-workee h t Druidse booe th dth n ko , publishe reviseda enlarged dan d versios hi f no book on the enigmatic William Stukeley, and in 1989 produced Ancient Britons and the antiquarian imagination: ideas from the Renaissance to the Regency. breadts Hi f interesho t attaine intentione dth foundee Abercrombe th th f so f o r y e Chairth d an , balance between such broad research and teaching and his responsibilities in Scotland were to be maintaine nexe th tr thirtdfo y year perioa s- considere e b d y thama t d under four themes: archaeological researc excavationd han ; work withi Universitye nth ; involvemen Societyaffaire e th th f n i to s ; participatio runnine th n ni f Britisgo h archaeology generally. Stuart Piggott has said that he was unprepared for the fact that archaeology in Scotland had t kepno t abreas f developmento t sremedo t furthe t Pegg d situatioe ou an yth t r e yse south y d nb han mean f excavationso publicationd san s that migh seee b t models na f besso t practice Societe Th .

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