Abstract
A NEW report, the "Survey and Policy of Field Research in the Archaeology of Great Britain. 1: The Prehistoric and early Historic Ages to the Seventh Century A.D.", has recently been published by the Council for British Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology in the University of London (1948 ; price 5s.). The object of this publication is to consider briefly—in only 120 pages—the present state and future desirable direction of British field research. A number of archaeologists have epitomized, without references, their present ideas about the periods under review and have pointed out where further work should be undertaken to settle doubtful questions and to fill in gaps. The idea of giving a present starting point and of suggesting where investigators should concentrate their efforts in the future is excellent. But it is not easy of execution. A volume issued under the auspices of the Council for British Archaeology might be considered as indeed authoritative, yet the reader should remember that some of the statements made are really matters of opinion of the writers concerned and not universally agreed upon. For example, a number of investigators cannot agree with the statement at the top of page 21, and will affirm on the contrary that the industries in the top gravels of the 100-ft. terrace below London are indeed quite late and do belong to the same series as those from East Anglia mentioned at the bottom of page 20. Again, in such a short epitome is it not perhaps a pity to have introduced a totally new nomenclature for the glaciations which has not yet been to any extent accepted ? The considerable cave excavations of Upper Palaeolithic industries are dismissed in about three sentences, which is scarcely sufficient. The Neolithic Age is allowed three pages. Those who have studied the period will know the subject-matter already, while those who are less instructed will find the discussion far too condensed. But such a work lends itself to criticisms on almost every page, and yet undoubtedly it has a definite value. It covers a far wider range in time than most archaeological works dealing with Great Britain, and in spite of criticisms of details, it does give a bird's-eye view of what is known of the period under review. The pin-pointing of what is required to be discovered by future investigators is also very useful.
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Field Archæology in Great Britain. Nature 162, 883–884 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162883c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162883c0