FROM OUR NEW PRESIDENT€¦ · Closing date for applications: cnd Wednesday of January cabd. Awards...

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Transcript of FROM OUR NEW PRESIDENT€¦ · Closing date for applications: cnd Wednesday of January cabd. Awards...

Page 1: FROM OUR NEW PRESIDENT€¦ · Closing date for applications: cnd Wednesday of January cabd. Awards announced in April . RAI Newsletter 44 August 2012 5 Dissertation Prizes e RAI
Page 2: FROM OUR NEW PRESIDENT€¦ · Closing date for applications: cnd Wednesday of January cabd. Awards announced in April . RAI Newsletter 44 August 2012 5 Dissertation Prizes e RAI
Page 3: FROM OUR NEW PRESIDENT€¦ · Closing date for applications: cnd Wednesday of January cabd. Awards announced in April . RAI Newsletter 44 August 2012 5 Dissertation Prizes e RAI

In 2011, the project members took part in excavations at East Chisenbury, recording andanalysing material exposed by badgers burrowing into the Late Bronze Age midden, in themidst of the MoD’s estate on Salisbury Plain. e season in 2012 at Barrow Clump aims toidentify the extent of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery and to excavate all the burials.

is positive and inspiring example of the value of archaeology has recently been recognisedat the British Archaeological Awards with a special award for ‘Project of special merit’.

You will find two advertising flyers in this mailing. Please consider making a gi of member -ship to a friend or relative for birthday, Christmas or graduation. Details of subscription ratesappear in the notices towards the end of this Newsletter.

FROM OUR NEW PRESIDENT David A. Hinton

Professor David Hinton starts his three-year term as our President in October, when ProfessorDavid Breeze steps down.

To follow David Breeze into the RAI presidency is daunting; his easy manner, command ofbusiness and ability to find the right word at the right time are qualities that all members whohave attended lectures, seminars and visits, or been on Council and committees, will haveadmired. Our affairs have been in very safe hands during a difficult three years. In the lastnewsletter, David thanked the various people who have helped him in that period, and I amglad to have such a strong team to support me in turn. ere will be another major change inofficers; Patrick Ottaway has reached the end of his term of editorship, and has just seen hisfinal volume, 168, of the Archaeological Journal through the press; he has brought in a steadystream of articles that have kept it in the forefront of research publication. Assistant EditorHoward Williams is taking over from Patrick, and Kate Waddington, a prehistorian fromBangor University, will be following Howard as Assistant Editor, with the expectation that indue course she will succeed him as Editor.

David’s years as president have taken us through (though not beyond) a period of recession,which in British archaeology has been a depression, with contract work drying up and grantsbecoming harder to obtain. e RAI is not exposed to all the difficulties faced by many otherarchaeological bodies, and has reserves that are substantial enough to see us through anyforeseeable crisis; we have limited employment responsibilities, no premises to maintain, andvery little other property. Income from investments has not fallen by as much as might havebeen expected, the portfolio is well balanced. Consequently it has not been necessary to curtailactivities, or substantially to reduce the research grants that we distribute and the awards thatwe make. Subscriptions have risen, and although some loss of membership has followed, theincome from them more or less maintains the running of the society, with revenue from invest -ments used to finance the grants and some other long-term ventures, such as digitising theback numbers of the Archaeological Journal. Council’s view is that this is the right policy topursue.

e situation that we are in does not necessitate drastic action by the RAI, but problemsthat we can foresee include the long-term future. We do not ask members’ ages, but I suspectthat many are like me, and retired. Despite the student dissertation prizes and the Cheneybursaries that we award, and the sponsorship scheme that Maureen Amory suggested andwhich several members have supported (and many thanks to them for it), the RAI is not

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well-known to the younger generation. How do I know? Solely on the basis of a straw poll thatI took of a group of Southampton third-year students, none of whom admitted to having heardof the Institute. When I asked about the Archaeological Journal, however, most of them nodded(of course they should all have done, but I bet other universities would do no better).

Nor are we well represented in the professional archaeological units. at is partly becausearchaeologists’ salaries are low, and they cannot take time to come to lectures or use the Societyof Antiquaries’ library, but also because membership of multi-period, multi-interest societieslike ours is not part of their discourse. ey are taught to be prehistorians, Romanists, medi -evalists, post-medievalists, or to be specialists in faunal remains, ceramics or the like, and willjoin single-period societies or interest groups before they consider joining us. ey also needto join the Institute for Archaeologists, and many aspire to be Fellows of the Society ofAntiquaries.

Partly to raise our Institute’s profile amongst those starting to become practising archae -ologists, we are going to have two presentations in the coming year, in addition to our pro -gramme of lectures: on 14 November, by three post-graduates, and on 10 April, by three peopleat the start of their careers. e note Presentations by new archaeologists in the ‘Lectures’section below gives more details. When the suggestion for holding them was announced atour AGM, the response was enthusiastic, and we feel sure that both presenters and memberswill enjoy the sessions.

One consideration about the Institute’s presentations and lectures is that many memberscannot easily get to London regularly to attend them. at is why the Conference takes placeoutside the capital and in a different region each year, to make it more possible for memberswho live in that area to take part. We are trialling a new service, videoing the lectures andlinking them to our website, so that Ordinary Members can see them on their computers, ata time that suits them. e Society of Antiquaries, whose premises we use, has already startedusing a system which is not restricted to their Fellows (it can be viewed at www.sal.org.uk,News and Events), and we will be using the same technology. e note Access to lectures onlinein the ‘Lectures’ section below gives more details.

Council decided that the RAI lectures should be for members only, at least in the firstinstance. We can revisit that decision if members feel that opening them to everyone shouldbe seen as part of the RAI’s charitable purpose to foster research generally.

Also in the spirit of promoting research for the public well-being, Council decided that thedigitised back numbers of the Archaeological Journal should be made open to all, and the first120 volumes will be on the Archaeology Data Service web-site very soon; the next forty willfollow them. Aer that, a rolling programme will start, so that the most recent ten volumesare available free only to members (non-members can buy individual papers, or whole issues,at a price which we hope will be low enough to attract revenue but high enough not to impingeon members’ privileges). is is already in operation; if you do not already have access to thedigitised versions, contact Sharon Gerber-Parfitt on [email protected] (you canchange the password she sends you to something more memorable).

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GRANTS AND AWARDS

ROYAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTERESEARCH GRANTSe Institute awards the following grants annually:Tony Clark Fund Up to £500 for archaeological work and datingBunnell Lewis Fund Up to £750 towards archaeology of the Roman period in the UKRAI Award Up to £5000 towards archaeological work in the UKPlease write to the Administrator: RAI c/o Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House,London, w1j 0be for an application form or visit our website, www.royalarchinst.orgClosing date for applications: 2nd Wednesday of January 2013. Awards announced inApril 2013.

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Dissertation Prizes

e RAI holds two competitions for disserta tionson a subject concerned with the archaeology orarchitectural history of Britain, Ireland and

adjacent areas of Europe. In even-numbered years,the competition is for the best dissertation sub -mitted by an undergraduate in full-time education.In odd-numbered years, the competition is for thebest dissertation submitted by a Master’s student.

British Archaeological Awards2012 JOHN SCHOFIELDI represented the Institute at this year’s BritishArchaeological Awards, which were pre sentedwith due pomp and ceremony at the BritishMuseum on 9 July. In the two hour event (followedby a drinks reception) awards were presented todeserving winners from across the archaeological

spectrum. Each category this year featured a 5–10minute film presenting the nominees, thoughthankfully there were no opportunities for tearfulacceptance speeches. In front of a full house, MikeHeyworth MBE (Chairman of BAA), the UKTourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose MP,and Lloyd Grossman (Chair of the HeritageAlliance) presented the following six regularawards:

Best archaeological project and Best archaeo logical discovery: Must Farm Excavations 2011Best community archaeology project: ames Discovery ProgrammeBest archaeological book: Gathering Time: Dating the Early Neolithic Enclosures of SouthernBritain and Ireland by Alasdair Whittle, Frances Healy and Alex Bayliss (Oxbow Books)Best archaeological innovation: e Grey Literature LibraryBest representation of archaeology in the media: Time Team (for ‘Reservoir Rituals’)A further two ‘surprise’ awards were presented: Lifetime Achievement Award: Professor Mick AstonProject of special merit: Operation Nightingale www.dmasuk.org

Mike Heyworth commented: ‘All the winners andother highly commended nominations are to becongratulated. Individually and collectively theydemonstrate the diverse and flourishing nature ofarchaeology across the UK. It is a discipline which

not only advances our understanding of humanity,but also engages everyone and has the potential tomake a significant contribution to our indi vidualwell-being and sense of community.’

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In 2012 the RAI award will be for the best under -graduate dissertation on a subject con cerned withthe archaeology or architec tural history of Britain,Ireland or adjacent areas of Europe. Nominationsare made by University and College Departments.e winner will receive a prize of £500 and theopportunity for a paper based on the disserta tionto be published in the Archaeological Journal. e chief criteria considered are (a) quality of workand (b) appropriateness to the interests of the RAIas reflected in the Journal. e award will bepresented at the meeting of the Institute on 12 December 2012.

RAI Cheney BursariesAs a result of a bequest le by Frank Cheney, theInstitute has a small fund of money to enablestudents to attend conferences or RAI meetings.An allocation is available annually from whichindividuals can apply for a maximum sum of £200.Please check with the Administrator that moneyremains in the yearly fund before you apply.Students who wish to apply for a bursary shouldemail to [email protected] or write tothe Administrator, RAI, c/o Society of Antiquaries,Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, w1j 0be, atleast six weeks before the event they wish to attend,stating: the institution in which they study, theevent they wish to attend, the sum of moneyrequested, a breakdown of how the money wouldbe spent and a summary (up to 250 words) of whythey would like to attend the event and in whatway this would be useful to them. Successfulapplicants may be asked to pro duce a brief reportof the event for the Institute. In 2012, six studentsreceived awards to help them to attend the‘Legacies of Northumbria’ conference to be held28–30 September at Newcastle upon Tyne.

Research Reporte Stones of Stonehenge — the Preseliconnection Grantholder, Mike ParkerPearsonGeologists Richard Bevins and Rob Ixer haveidentified a rhyolite bluestone source north of thePreseli hills in the Pont Saeson district, an areaincluding specifically the impressive crag of CraigRhosyfelin. ey have found a pre cise matchbetween this ‘rhyolite with fabric’ from Stonehenge

and the northwest side of the outcrop of CraigRhosyfelin.

A trial excavation on the spot pinpointed by thegeological analysis revealed remains of a pre -historic quarry. e quarry’s ground sur face wasburied beneath colluvium that has sealed archaeo -logical layers. e excavation trench revealed astone surface covered by a buried soil. Within this,four blocks appear to have been set on edge on anorthwest–southeast axis, probably to form threesets of ‘rails’ for a 4 m-long rhyolite monolith thatlay on their north end, propped on a large slab. emonolith’s size, composition and shape indicatethat it is too large to have derived from the adja -cent rock face; it was most likely detached from theoutcrop about 15 m to the south (in the directionindicated by the axis of the stone rails). Otherarchaeological finds included ham mer stones, aflint flake, quartz flakes and many knapped rhyo -lite flakes. Geophysical survey has identified apossible second monolith and the line of a possibletrack exiting the quarry.

Extensive sampling of the buried soil forcarbonised plant remains produced charred roundwood, wild plant seeds, rhizome material, hazelnutshell and a hulled barley grain. e bramble,raspberry and possible wild strawberry seeds aswell as hazelnut shells form a suite of collected wildfood resources.

e barley grain and a piece of round woodfrom the buried soil, together with a piece of roundwood from the base of the colluvium, were sub -mitted for radiocarbon dating.

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

2012Conference 28–30 September at Newcastle uponTyne, ‘Legacies of Northumbria’ (see below)

Autumn Day Meeting An introduction to LondonDocklands, Saturday 13 October, led by HedleySwain. For details, please see the flyer included inthis mailing.

Forthcoming in 2013 (details to be confirmed,but please check our website)

Spring Meeting 17–19 May, based at Buxton.Following a dinner and scene-setting presentationon the Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday willbe spent travelling across the landscapes of thePeak District and visiting some of the distinctiveprehistoric, historic and industrial sites containedwithin them, exploring the distinctive and signifi -cantly different terrain of the White and the DarkPeak, and the range of evidence for the ways inwhich people have exploited them in the past.

Summer Meeting 6–13 July, Frankfurt, Germany,led by David Breeze and based at Frankfurt for thewhole week. e intention is to explore the Roman

frontier, including the famous reconstructed fortat the Saalburg together with an adjacent length ofthe earthworks, a small fort and reconstructedtower, and the late fort at Boppard on the Rhine.A secondary focus will be the Holy Roman Empirewith visits to the Cathedral in Frankfurt, where theemperor was elected, and the Cathedral in Speyer,where several were buried. Prehistoric sites willinclude the fort at the Dunsberg and the excitingnew museum at the Glauberg. Our visit willencompass the Residenz at Wurzburg, ‘mad king’Ludwig of Bavaria’s reconstructed Pompeian villa,and the enormous early 19th-century Prussian fortat Ehrenbreitstein overlooking Coblenz. Several ofthe places on the programme are World HeritageSites and all lie within a comfortable travellingdistance of Frankfurt. Please send expressions ofinterest in this meeting by 30 November, toCaroline Raison, RAI, 2 Main Street, Houghton onthe Hill, Leics le7 9gd or [email protected].

Annual Conference 2013 Preliminary notice:11–13 October at the University of Chester, ‘eImpact of Rome on the Countryside’.

is non-residential conference, sponsored by theRAI and the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle,is being held at Newcastle upon Tyne, from 28 September to 1 October at Neville Hall, theMining Institute, ne1 1se. ere will be an optionalcoach trip at extra charge on Monday 1 October tothe early medieval sites of North Northumberland.Bringing together academic, commercial and localachaeologists, lectures will showcase new researchand explore a number of themes including: the legacy of Rome and the prehistoric northduring the formation of fih- and sixth-centurychiefdoms, the Golden Age of Northumbria,North umbria in the Viking Age, and the role ofNorthumbrian culture in the high medieval

period. e keynote lecture on Friday, by ProfessorDame Rosemary Cramp, will be followed by areception. e conference fee is £80 to includeabstracts, tea or coffee and on Saturday 29, lunch.A full speaker listing can be viewed at www.royalarchinst.org.

Please contact [email protected] [email protected] for bookingsand further information.

ROYAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE ANNUALCONFERENCE 2012

Legacies of Northumbria: Recent thinking on the fifth to fourteenthcenturies in Northern Britain

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Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of themonth from October to May at 5.00 pm in theRooms of the Society of Antiquaries, BurlingtonHouse, Piccadilly, London w1j obe. In Novemberand April, the lecture will be preceded at 3 pm bya presentation (see above). Tea will be servedbefore each meeting at 4.30 pm. Non-members arewelcome but should make themselves known tothe Secretary and sign the visitor’s book.

201210 OctoberRoyal Windsor: the castle reassessedDr Steven Brindle and Brian KerrOver the course of the last two decades, archaeo -logical work at the Round Tower and the FireRestoration site, as well as the results of otherinvestigative works, have shed new light on theform and use of Windsor from the medievalperiod to the nineteenth century. In this presenta -tion, we will discuss the medieval architecturalevidence and the timber structures, and evidenceof food preparation and diet, small finds and daily life at that time. We will also examine thenineteenth-century structural evidence.

A new multi-authored history of the castle, tosit alongside Windsor Revealed, is now in prep -aration, covering its social and cultural as well asits architectural history. It will be published by theRoyal Collection. is paper therefore comes at anopportune moment, setting out our currentunderstanding of the potential of the project aspart of the Institute’s celebration of the DiamondJubilee of our Patron.

14 November 3.00 pm presentation: New techniques in archaeologicalvisuaisationArchaeological Computing Research Group, Uni -versity of Southampton

5 pm lecture:e Origins of the kingdom of Wessex: thearchaeology of the GewisseProfessor Helena HamerowWessex was ultimately the most successful of all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It is popularlyassumed to have originated around its later capital,Winchester, but in fact its origins lie in the Upperames Valley, with the emergence of a peoplereferred to by Bede as the Gewisse; it was they who,by the late seventh century, had come to be knownas the West Saxons. is region, so important inthe early history of England, also contains anunsur passed density and diversity of archaeo -logical sites dating from the fih to seventhcenturies. is lecture will present the results of arecently com pleted six-month pilot project toexplore the potential of these sites to shed light onthe origins and development of the first post-Roman polity in the region.

12 Decembere Oldest Irish Tradition: Tara and SacralKingshipConor Newmanis paper focuses on the Irish experience of sacralkingship as manifested in royal landscapes likeTara. One of the oldest and most enduring institu -tions worldwide, sacral kings embodied the nexusbetween this world and the cosmos and its deities.e royal demesnes associated with sacral kingswere envisaged cosmographically and invoked inmythology, in placenames and in the juxtapositionof monuments and natural features. e sacralland scape of Tara, which is the principal concernof this paper, is remarkably intact and has been thesubject of intense archaeological and historicalanalysis since the launch of the Discovery Pro -gramme’s Tara Survey in 1992. Twenty years on, averitable quantum leap forward in our under -standing of the Irish evidence has occurred.

Royal Archaeological Institute Lecture Programme and Abstracts:2012/13

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20139 JanuaryKenilworth CastleDr Anna KeayQueen Elizabeth I had granted Kenilworth Castleto her favourite, Robert Dudley, in 1563 and hespent a fortune transforming it into a luxuriouspalace fit to receive his queen and her court. isincluded the creation of the magnificentElizabethan Garden, re-opened in 2009 aer beinglost for more than 400 years, and the constructionof sumptuous apartments; a whole chamber wasdedicated to one of the queen’s great passions,dancing. e queen visited on several occasionsand was entertained by lavish festivities in whichthe outdoor spaces and surrounding landscapeformed as much a part of the magnificence as thedazzling interiors.

13 February: e RAI debate e limits of Imperial power: the functionof military frontier wallsProfessor David Breeze will debate with Dr Eberhard SauerWere ancient military barriers, like Hadrian’s Walland the Antonine Wall in Britain or the PersianGorgan Wall in northern Iran control lines like theBerlin Wall or were they designed to be defensiblemilitary barriers? Did they carry walkways ordidn’t they? Were they instrumental to the safetyand security of their hinterland and its economicprosperity or would it have made little differencehad there been a string of forts only?

e speakers hold diametrically opposed viewson some of these questions. Each will present hiscase, followed by a debate with an opportunity foraudience participation.

13 MarchKings of the Iron AgeProfessor Tim ChampionClassical authors from Caesar onwards refer to‘kings’ in Britain before the Roman conquest;though the title ‘rex’ appeared on some of theircoins, other archaeological evidence for theirexistence has proved problematic. is lecture willconsider what we now know of the nature of poli -tics and authority in the Late Iron Age of Britain,and in particular how we might seek to explain the

perhaps very sudden emergence of inherited socialinequality and centralised political power in theform of the royal dynasties known from historyand the coinage. It will also consider their laterrepresentation in myth and history.

10 April3.00 pm: Presentation by NewArchaeologists5 pm lecture: e Coronation Chair andStone of Destiny re-examinedProfessor Warwick Rodwell and Marie LouiseSauerbergDespite its outstanding significance, the Corona -tion Chair has never before been subjected to anin-depth archaeological study, to establish how itwas made in 1296–1300. e Chair was con structedexpressly to house the Scottish Stone of Destiny. Amajor conservation programme in 2010–11provided the opportunity for such a study, reveal -ing much new evidence concerning the Chair’soriginal construction, ornate gilt decora tion andphysical history: coronations and other eventshave all le their marks on it. Since 1996, the Stonehas been on display in Edinburgh Castle, but it willreturn to the Abbey for future corona tions.

e recent work established that originally therewas probably no seat over the compartment whichcontained the Stone: the monarch appears to havesat directly upon the Stone. A detailed reconsidera -tion of this battered block of Perthshire sandstone,and of the various physical interventions it dis -plays, suggests a markedly different history fromthat which has hitherto been supposed.

8 May: the President’s lectureRoyal regalia, royal gis and royaloccasions in medieval EnglandProfessor David A. HintonDebate continues about whether kingship can berecognised at Sutton Hoo and in the StaffordshireHoard, and whether the Alfred Jewel was made forKing Alfred the Great. e Bayeux Tapestry pro -vides an image of a coronation, and the symbolicobjects used to express royal control are alsoshown on some coin types. Display continued tomatter to Norman and later kings, whose expendi -ture on gems and jewellery oen matched that ontheir castles and conflicts.

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RAI members are invited to attend the meetings ofthe British Archaeological Association by reci -procal arrangement

20123 October: e Scottish parish churches projectby Professor Richard Fawcett

e lecture will be preceded by the Association’sAnnual General Meeting

7 November: ‘e most lethal catastrophe inrecorded history’: an archaeology and history ofthe Black Death in London 1348–9 by BarneySloane

5 December: e construction, deconstructionand reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon church:the work of the Brixworth ArchaeologicalResearch Committee 1972–2012 by Dr DavidParsons

20132 January: 20th-century England: writing anaerial history by Professor Richard Morris

e lecture will be followed by the Association’sTwelh-Night Party

6 February: e George Zarnecki Memoriallecture and reception: From Judgement to Atone -ment: sculpture at Strasbourg, Lincoln andNaumburg by Professor Paul Crossley

6 March: Recent excavations at the Abbey of St Denis by Michael Wyss, Unité d’archéologie dela ville de Saint-Denis

3 April: Commemoration and the developmentof the English Parish Church by Professor NigelSaul

1 May: e Dignity of Friends: from the cata -combs of Rome to the Ashmolean MuseumOxford by Professor Susan Walker

e lecture will be followed by the President’sReception

Meetings are held in the rooms of the Society ofAntiquaries of London, Burlington House, Picca -dilly, London. Tea will be served before each meet -ing at 4.30 p.m. and the Chair is taken at 5.00 p.m. Non-members are welcome to attendoccasional lectures but are asked to make them -selves known to the Hon. Director on arrival andto sign the visitors’ book.

British Archaeological Association Meetings 2012–13

MISCELLANY

Timber Castles twenty years on JEREMY CUNNINGTON

Conference To mark the twentieth anniversary ofHigham and Barker’s seminal work on timbercastles the Castle Studies Group is holding a dayconference on Saturday 13 October 2012 at UCL,London. e cost for the day is £75, includinglunch and morning refreshments, with reductionsfor members of the Castle Studies Group and for students. For further information see http://www.castlestudiesgroup.org.uk/page26.html orcontact Jeremy Cunnington on 07950 926154.

Special Offer Timber Castles by Robert Highamand Philip Barker, published by University ofExeter Press, has just been reissued in paperback(in August 2012, with a new ISBN, 978-0-85989-

881-2), priced at £38.00. ere is a new preface byRobert Higham to mark twenty years since thebook’s original publication. RAI members canorder a copy at a special price of £28.50, post freein the UK, by writing to Helen Gannon, Sales &Marketing Manager, University of Exeter Press,Reed Hall, Exeter, ex4 4qr, quoting ‘RAI’ or on01392 263081. Cheques should be made payable to‘e Exeter Press Ltd’. P&P charges will applyoutside the UK — please ask the publisher fordetails. is offer is only available direct from UEP,and is valid until 30 November 2012.

Castle Studies Trust to be launched e CastleStudies Trust is to be launched in October 2012,with the aim of funding further research on castlesboth in the UK and internationally. It has strongsupport of those working in castle studies. Edward

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Impey and John Goodall have agreed to bepatrons, while others will help the trust by actingas assessors of grant applications, notably JeremyAshbee, Stuart Prior and John Kenyon.

e trust’s grants will complement and supple -ment the work done by heritage organ isations andacademic institutions. Grants will focus on newwork on castles such as architectural or geo -physical surveys or scientific tests such as radio -carbon dating, and will initially be awarded up tothe sum of £5,000.

For further information about the trust and how you might help, please contact the chair of the trustees, Jeremy Cunnington on [email protected], at Flat 3, 46Ferme Park Road, London n4 4ed, or on 07950926154.

Writing a review DAVID BREEZEEvery year a copy of  e ArchaeologicalJournal arrives. Here is a cornucopia of articlesrelating to Britain’s archaeology, architecturalhistory and history.  is is not only a hetero -geneous collection but also reflects the differentgenres in which the contributions are written. eskills required to write an excavation report aredifferent from those of the historian, for example,and the same goes for a review. Over the years, Ihave written several reviews. Each time, I startremembering the wise counsel of my first boss,Stewart Cruden: always remember in writing areview, he said, it is the reviewer who is on trial notthe reviewed. Wise advice indeed: be fair, don’tpush your own views, be thorough, don’t nit-pick.It is possible to find mistakes in every book — weare only human — but detailed lists of typosgenerally should be avoided and only significanterrors noted.

What should be in a book review? A synopsis ofthe contents and an outline of the author’s argu -ment followed by judicious comment on thatargument. Simple? Yes, but too many reviewersfail in this basic task. I have always found writinga review a demanding exercise. e review of anexcavation report, for example, requires delvinginto the specialist reports to test the archaeologist’sconclusions. e whole exercise requires a denialof self; the focus is on helping others, and thatincludes not just the readers but the author as well.

As for being on the receiving end of a review, well,that is another story.

Notice of intent to Digitisee Royal Archaeological Institute (RAI) intendsto make available in electronic form past volumesof the Archaeological Journal. We intend that theseissues will be hosted with the Archaeological DataService, providing free and open access to all, upto the last ten years of published journals, whichwill remain accessible only to members, sub -scribing libraries and through a pay-per-viewarrangement.

At present Archaeological Journal authors assigncopyright (for both print and electronic publica -tion) to the RAI. is does not limit an author’sability to reuse material, but ensures that the RAIcan protect the copyright internationally. Howeverpapers which we published in the past were notcontrolled in this way, nor did we seek permissionto obtain electronic rights because this form ofpublishing was not envisaged. e RAI does nothave the wherewithal to identify all the authorswho contributed to volumes published in the pastand obtain permission to republish their workelectronically from them or from their estateexecutor where an author is deceased. ereforewe are publishing this announcement to ask forany Archaeological Journal authors who object tothe proposed policy, to inform us as soon aspossible.

We will make a presumption of permissionunless consent is withdrawn, in which instance we will reluctantly remove the relevant article from the digital archive. We feel that this willinescapably alter the balance of the particularjournal to a certain extent, but we will respect thedecision.

We anticipate that most people involved in theactivities of the RAI will read this notice, and wewould appreciate it if you could bring this to theattention of anyone you think relevant. We will behosting the first set of journals (Volumes 1–120,1864–1964) online imminently, and want to ensurethat notice of our intentions is widely circulated.

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Volunteers Required — PleaseWill You Help? Past Publications e Institute pays a thousandpounds each year to warehouse past publications.ese are surplus to members’ requirements, butmight be regarded as superb advertising material.As well as using them to raise our profile abroad,we might speed their disposal by targeting placesreferred to in a journal’s article or featured in ourSummer Meetings reports. For this, help is neededplease. If you could spare some time, or if you havesome teenagers to share this task, please contactthe Treasurer.

Publicity e RAI is setting up a network ofvolunteer members, who would put up posters anddistribute membership leaflets in their place ofwork, department, staff common room or othersuitable location on an occasional basis. Postersand leaflets would be sent by the administrator ina maximum of two packs per year (e.g. a generalmember’s benefit poster with a set of membershipleaflets; a conference poster). If you would like tohelp, please contact the Administrator stating theorganisation you would be able to cover, and yourpostal address.

Tea before lectures We have started a rota ofvolunteers to serve teas before RAI lectures. Pleasecontact the administrator if you would be willingto help.

NoticesPublication Newse latest volume of the Archaeological Journal, vol. 168 for 2011 and the 2011 Summer MeetingReport: Portugal are in this mailing.

Online access to journalsA reminder to members that Volumes 161 to 167for the most recent years of the ArchaeologicalJournal are now available online for OrdinaryMembers to download through our website. Eacharticle is available as a PDF, as well as shortercontributions and reviews. If you would like toaccess the journals, please contact the admin -istrator with your e-mail address. You will be senta username and password, which you can use tologin to our website using the boxes at the top ofits first page. Once logged in, you will be able to

change your password to something more mem -orable, and to access the journals.

For non-members and associate members, thesesame seven volumes are now available on a pay-per-view basis through the CBA’s ArchLib website(http://archlib.britarch.net/).Back issues of RAI publications Back issues ofthe Archaeological Journal, Indexes, SummerMeeting Reports, and selected off-prints andmonographs are available in limited numbers. To see the list of volumes and to place your order, select the Back Issue Order Form from our website at http://www.royalarchinst.org/documents/backissue.doc or contact the Admini -strator for a faxed or posted copy.Subscriptionse current rates by direct debit are: OrdinaryMember, £35, Associate, £15 or Student, £20; LifeMember, £750 or £525 if aged over 60.

Subscriptions to the Institute made using directdebit are collected via the Charities Aid Founda -tion (CAF). When communicating with a memberto acknowledge receipt, CAF use the term‘donation’.

Life membership represents good value for boththe member and the Institute and it shows amember’s commitment to the Institute.Gift Aid If you are a taxpayer, under the gi aidscheme, the government will refund to the Insti -tute, 25p in the pound of the value of your sub -scrip tion. Please complete and return a Gi Aidform from the one of the enclosed flyers if you areeligible. (We shall shred it if you are alreadycontributing.)

Requests for research funding exceeded£60,000 this year. e Institute made grants of£13,750. We might have granted many thousandsmore had there been grants or legacies frommembers, or through Gi Aid from a greaternumber of members.The RAI officee email for the Administrator is [email protected], the telephone number is

and the postal address is RAI, c/o Societyof Antiquaries, Burlington House, London, w1j0be. e RAI has no office in London, but theAdministrator will usually be at this address on thesecond Wednesday of each month from Octoberto May, between 11 am and 3 pm.

Page 18: FROM OUR NEW PRESIDENT€¦ · Closing date for applications: cnd Wednesday of January cabd. Awards announced in April . RAI Newsletter 44 August 2012 5 Dissertation Prizes e RAI
Page 19: FROM OUR NEW PRESIDENT€¦ · Closing date for applications: cnd Wednesday of January cabd. Awards announced in April . RAI Newsletter 44 August 2012 5 Dissertation Prizes e RAI
Page 20: FROM OUR NEW PRESIDENT€¦ · Closing date for applications: cnd Wednesday of January cabd. Awards announced in April . RAI Newsletter 44 August 2012 5 Dissertation Prizes e RAI

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ewsletter 44

August 2012

ROYAL ARCHAEOLOG IC AL INST I TUTE NEWSLETTER

editor Katherine Barclay, Williamsgate, Governor’s Green, Pembroke Road,Portsmouth, Hants. po1 2ns. Email: [email protected]

next issue Copy for the next issue must reach the editor by the end of January 2012 forpublication in April 2013.

this issue’s cover picture: The former Royal Naval Hospital, Deal

visit our web site at www.royalarchinst.org

Please keep your report to a single page of A4 with text in 12-point font. In addition, please supply one jpeg illustration and contactinformation. Your report’s title should summarisethe content of your report in order for it to beeasily searchable.

Send your articles to the Institute’s admin -istrator at [email protected]. Please directany questions to the Treasurer at [email protected].

Entries will be kept on our website until earlyJune 2013, the anniversary of Her Majesty’s Coro -na tion, but they will be preserved in perpetuity (seenext item).

Preservation of our WebsiteOne of the links from the official Diamond Jubileewebsite is to the preservation by the British Libraryof a special collection of archived websites to cap ture the Diamond Jubilee Online. ey arework ing with the Royal Household, the Institutefor Historical Research and the Mass Observationproject, to make the collection as comprehensiveas possible, with a wide range of perspectives onthe Jubilee celebrations, and many different typesof website. All types of sites are sought, fromcorporate to personal, local to national. Anyonecan nominate a site, using the form at http://www.webarchive.org.uk/ukwa/info/nominate

e UK Web Archive has been collectingexamples of UK Websites since 2004. A great dealof the content in the web archive is no longeravailable on the live web.

Over 10,000 titles have already been archivedand are publicly available from the web-site  http://www.webarchive.org.uk/ukwa/info.is makes the archive a tremendous resource for

scholars and researchers who wish to consulthistorical data that was once published online buthas since been deleted.

e Diamond Jubilee web collection will belaunched at the end of 2012 as a lasting legacy, aunique collection of archived websites that willrecord the celebrations and varying opinions heldaround the nation.

e Institute’s website has been accepted for thearchive.

Royal LetterOn behalf of the Institute, our President sent acongratulatory letter to Her Majesty the Queen onthe occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. In response,the Institute has received a letter of thanks fromHer Majesty. ese letters may be seen on ourwebsite by following the links from our special webpage at http://www.royalarchinst.org/jubilee