Stuart Piggott
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2008) |
Stuart Piggott FSA Scot | |
---|---|
Born | 28 May 1910 |
Died | 23 September 1996 | (aged 86)
Nationality | British |
Citizenship | British |
Spouse |
Peggy Piggott (m. 1936; div. 1956) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Archaeology |
Institutions | University of Edinburgh |
Stuart Ernest Piggott,
Early life
Piggott was born in Petersfield, Hampshire, the son of G. H. O. Piggott, and was educated there at Churcher's College.[1]
Career
On leaving school in 1927 Piggott took up a post as assistant at Reading Museum, where he developed an expertise in Neolithic pottery.
In 1928 he joined the
In the 1930s he began working for
During the
After the war he went to
In 1958 Piggott published a survey of Scottish prehistory, Scotland before History, and in 1959 a popular introductory volume, Approach to Archaeology. He was president of the Prehistoric Society from 1960 to 1963, president of the
He died of a heart attack at his home near Wantage in Oxfordshire on 23 September 1996. His remains were cremated on 30 September at Oxford crematorium.
Family
On 12 November 1936, he married Celia Margaret Preston, an archaeologist and finds specialist; they had met while students at the Institute of Archaeology in London. By 1954, their relationship was over, and they divorced in 1956.
Excavations
Sites he excavated (often with Richard Atkinson) included Cairnpapple Hill in West Lothian; Wayland's Smithy in Oxfordshire; and West Kennet Long Barrow and Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
Honours
In 1957 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Robert Schlapp, David Whitteridge, Sidney Newman, and James Ritchie.[1]
He received the CBE in 1972, and was awarded numerous academic awards from scholarly institutions in Britain and abroad. He retired from the Abercromby Chair in 1977 and was awarded the gold medal of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1983 and the Grahame Clark Medal of the British Academy in 1992.
Reception and legacy
Vincent Megaw commented that "as [Piggott] himself has said, although he has done his fair share of field work and excavation, his prime concern has been to produce works of synthesis and interpretation".[2] Megaw added that Piggott viewed "archaeology as an oyster to be savoured whole and not simply to be subjected to the minutiae of macrofaunal and calorific analyses."[2] The historian Ronald Hutton stated that it was "one aspect of his greatness that he fostered the study of early modern antiquaries as an integral part of the self-awareness of his profession."[3]
In 1968 a number of Piggott's former pupils and colleagues assembled a collection of essays dedicated to him, titled Studies in Ancient Europe.[2] In 1976 Megaw published a second Festschrift, which brought in consideration of Piggott's work on the archaeology of Asia and the Americas.[4]
In the 2021 film
Publications
Marjorie Robertson compiled a list of Piggott's books up to 1975 for his festschrift.[6]
Year of publication | Title | Co-author(s) | Publisher |
---|---|---|---|
1935 | The Progress of Early Man | – | A. and C. Black (London) |
1944 | Some Ancient Cities of India | – | Oxford University Press (Bombay) |
1948 | Fire Among the Ruins | Oxford University Press (London) | |
1949 | British Prehistory | Oxford University Press (London) | |
1950 | Prehistoric India to 1000 BC | Penguin (Harmondsworth) | |
1950 | William Stukeley: An Eighteenth Century Antiquary | Clarendon Press (Oxford) | |
1951 | Cairnpapple Hill, West Lothian | HMSO (Edinburgh) | |
1951 | A Picture Book of Ancient British Art | Glyn Daniel | Cambridge University Press (Cambridge) |
1953 | William Camden and the Britannia | Oxford University Press (London) | |
1954 | The Neolithic Cultures of the British Isles | Cambridge University Press (Cambridge) | |
1958 | Inventaria Archaeologica GB 25-34: Early and Middle Bronze Age Grave-Groups and Hoards from Scotland (edited volume) | Margaret Stewart (editors) | Garraway (London) |
1958 | Scotland Before History | Nelson (London) | |
1959 | Approach to Archaeology | A. and C. Black (London) | |
1961 | The Dawn of Civilization (edited volume) | Thames and Hudson (London) | |
1962 | The Prehistoric Peoples of Scotland (edited volume) | Routledge and Kegan Paul (London) | |
1962 | The West Kennet Long Barrow: Excavations 1955–56 | HMSO (London) | |
1963 | West Kennet Long Barrow: Wiltshire | HMSO (London) | |
1965 | Ancient Europe from the Beginnings of Agriculture to Classical Antiquity: A Survey | Edinburgh University Press (Edinburgh) | |
1965 | Prehistoric Societies (The History of Human Society series) | Grahame Clark | Hutchinson (London) |
1967 | Celts, Saxons and the Early Antiquaries | Edinburgh University Press (Edinburgh) | |
1968 | The Druids | Thames and Hudson (London) | |
1970 | Early Celtic Art | Derek Allen | Edinburgh University Press for the Arts Council of Great Britain (Edinburgh) |
References
- ^ ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ a b c Megaw 1976, p. 9.
- ^ Hutton 2005, p. 382.
- ^ Megaw 1976, pp. 9–10.
- ^ "What Netflix 'The Dig' Gets Right And 'Slanderously' Wrong About The Sutton Hoo Story". Forbes. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ Robertson 1976, pp. 320–331.
Sources
- Bradley, R. (November 1996). "Obituary: Stuart Piggott". British Archaeology. 19. Archived from the original on 9 February 1999.
- ISBN 9780500050514.
- Hutton, Ronald (2005). "The Religion of William Stukeley". The Antiquaries Journal. 85: 381–394. S2CID 162733894.
- ISBN 0500011494.
- Mercer, Roger J. (26 September 1996). "Obituary: Professor Stuart Piggott". The Independent. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- . (subscription required)
- Robertson, Marjorie (1976). "Bibliography of Stuart Piggott's publications". In ISBN 0500011494.