Editing Richard J. C. Atkinson

{{Short description|British prehistorian and archaeologist}}{{Infobox academic
| name = Richard J. C. Atkinson
| education = [[Sherborne School]]
| alma_mater = [[Magdalen College, Oxford]]
| discipline = Archaeologist
| sub_discipline = Prehistory
| workplaces = University College, Cardiff
| known_for = Stonehenge excavations
| birth_date = 22 January 1920
| birth_place = Evershot, Dorset
| death_date = 10 October 1994
| nationality = British
}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
:''Alternative meaning: [[Richard C. Atkinson|Richard Atkinson (educator)]]''

'''Richard John Copland Atkinson''' <small>[[CBE]]</small> (22 January 1920 &ndash; 10 October 1994) was a British [[prehistorian]] and [[archaeologist]].

==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''.

== Legacy ==
[[English Heritage]] holds Atkinson's collection of over 2,000 record photographs in the public [[English Heritage Archive]]. A selection of around 200 photographs can be viewed online on the ViewFinder website.<ref>[http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/viewfinder ViewFinder – Home<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Wessex Gallery of Archaeology, which opened at the [[Salisbury Museum]] in summer 2014, displays Bronze Age artefacts discovered by Atkinson in July 1953.

Unfortunately, because of an extremely heavy administrative burden arising from service on many committees throughout his career, including a period as Deputy Principal of University College, Cardiff, Atkinson's written reports of the excavations at Stonehenge were not complete before serious illness, mainly caused by overwork, forced total retirement.

== References ==
{{reflist}}
* [http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Obituary/1994/science.html Newcastle University obituary]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | first1 = R. J. C. |last1= Atkinson | date = 1959 | title = Stonehenge and Avebury | publisher = H.M. Stationery Office | pages = | oclc = 655253701 | url = https://archive.org/details/stonehenge-and-avebury-images/page/n1/mode/2up}}

==External links==
* [http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/results.aspx?index=0&form=advanced&who=Atkinson View Atkinson's photos of Stonehenge held by English Heritage ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606132630/http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/results.aspx?index=0&form=advanced&who=Atkinson |date=6 June 2011 }}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Richard}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Academics of Cardiff University]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford]]
[[Category:English archaeologists]]
[[Category:English prehistorians]]
[[Category:British conscientious objectors]]
[[Category:British Quakers]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People educated at Sherborne School]]
[[Category:People from Sherborne]]
[[Category:Archaeologists of Stonehenge]]
[[Category:20th-century Quakers]]


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