The Fenland Research Committee, founded in 1932, guided research in the low wetlands north of Cambridge in east England. Its work marked a turning-point in the developing prehistory of Sir Grahame Clark, a change so profound it is here called a ‘new archaeology’. A leading approach now as ‘ecological archaeology’, it is here shown to have its conception in certain goals, definitions, concepts, and assumptions — and in the field circumstances which promoted a then-new approach to prehistoric materials.
In May 1939, the accomplished Palaeolithic archaeologist, Dorothy Garrod, was elected Cambridge's Professor of Archaeology — the first woman to hold a Chair at either Cambridge or Oxford. Garrod was well qualified for the position in several ways. Trained by R.R. Marett at Oxford and the Abbé Henri Breuil in France, she was renowned for her excavations in Gibraltar, Palestine, Southern Kurdistan and Bulgaria. By 1939, Garrod was one of Britain's finest archaeologists. She had discovered the wellpreserved skull fragments of ‘Abel’, a Neanderthal child, in Gibraltar, identified the Natufianculture while excavating Shukbah near Jerusalem, directed the large, long-term excavations at Mt Carmel, established the Palaeolithic succession for that crucial region and then travelled, in 1938, to explore the important Palaeolithic cave of Bacho Kiro in Bulgaria. Published reports of her excavations had appeared promptly and were very favourably reviewed. The prehistorian, Grahame Clark, who was to succeed her to the Disney Chair in 1952, described Garrod's The Stone Age of Mount Carmel (1937) as ‘pure gold’ (Clark 1937: 488).
Since her death almost 30 years ago, researchers interested in the life and work of one of the greatest prehistorians of her generation have searched, largely in vain, for material additional to Dorothy Garrod's published work. It seems they need search no longer.
Over the past several years. I have been considering the creation of a new section to be included in future iss ues of The Bulletin of the History of Archaeology. Archaeological journals over the past few years have chosen not to C81Ty obituaries of deceased archaeologists ostensibly because of space constraints and/or for the reasons of press ure tQ publish scientific papers, sometimes at the expense of historical treatment of the discipline. It will not be. the intention of the to publish fannal obituaries of deceased archaeolo&ists . Begin ning with this issue. The Bulletin of the History of Archaeology will inaugurate a new section which will allow its readers to obtain infonnation concerning the passing of scholars who have been engaged in writing the history of our discipline. It is my intention to kee p this section a penn anent feature of the BRA for the readersbip to report deaths of those who have written upon the history of anthropology, most especially archaeology. and to provide a short commentary as to their contributions. To that end, I have the very sad duty of making the first report (see section vm in this issue. "Death Notices of Colleagues Who Were engaged in Writing the History of Archaeology". By adding this section, the BHA will add to its role as a forum for discourse and research in the history of archaeology.
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