Editing Richard J. C. Atkinson (section)

==Biography==
Atkinson was born in [[Evershot]], Dorset, and went to [[Sherborne School]] and then [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], reading [[Philosophy, Politics and Economics]]. During the [[Second World War]], his [[Quaker]] beliefs meant that he was a [[conscientious objector]]. In 1944, he became Assistant Keeper of Archaeology at the [[Ashmolean Museum]]. In 1949, he was appointed a lecturer at the [[University of Edinburgh]].

Atkinson directed excavations at [[Stonehenge]] for the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Works]] between 1950 and 1964. During this period he helped to bring theories about the origins and construction of Stonehenge to a wider audience: for example, through the BBC television programme, ''Buried Treasure'' (1954), which, among other things, sought to demonstrate, using teams of schoolboys, how the stones might have been transported by water or over land. He also produced a theory on the creation of Stonehenge.

He also investigated sites at [[Silbury Hill]], [[West Kennet Long Barrow]], and [[Wayland's Smithy]] and was a friend and collaborator of Peggy Piggott, [[Stuart Ernest Piggott|Stuart Piggott]] and [[J. F. S. Stone|John F.S. Stone]]. His Silbury work was part of a [[BBC]] documentary series ''[[Chronicle (UK TV series)|Chronicle]]'' on the monument. In 1958, he moved to [[University College, Cardiff]], to become its first professor of archaeology. He remained at Cardiff until he retired in 1983. He served on the [[University Grants Committee (UK)|University Grants Committee]]. He received the [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in 1979. Atkinson worked tirelessly to promote and develop science-based British archaeology, and was famous for his practical contributions to archaeological technique and his pragmatic solutions to on-site problems, which were listed in the handbook he wrote called ''Field Archaeology''.