Grahame Clark: An Intellectual Biography Of An Archaeologist - Hardcover

Fagan, Brian; Fagan, Brian M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813336023 ISBN 13: 9780813336022

Publisher: Westview Press, 2001

Synopsis

The British archaeologist Grahame Clark was a seminal figure in European and world archaeology for more than half of the twentieth century, but, at the same time, one whose reputation has been outshone by other, more visible luminaries. His works were never aimed at a wide general public, nor did he become a television or radio personality. Clark was, above all, a scholar, whose contributions to world archaeology were enormous. He was also convinced that the study of prehistory was important for all humanity and spent his career saying so. For this, he was awarded the prestigious Erasmus Prize in 1990, an award only rarely given to archaeologists. This intellectual biography describes Clark's remarkable career and assesses his seminal contributions to archaeology. Clark became interested in archaeology while at school, studied the subject at Cambridge University, and completed a groundbreaking doctorate on the Mesolithic cultures of Britain in 1931. He followed this study with a magisterial survey, The Mesolithic Settlement of Northern Europe (1936), which established him as an international authority on the period. At the same time, he became interested in the interplay between changing ancient environment and ancient human societies. In a series of excavations and important papers, he developed environmental archaeology and the notion of ecological systems as a foundation of scientific, multidisciplinary archaeology, culminating in his world-famous excavations at Starr Carr, England, in 1949 and his Prehistoric Europe: The Economic Basis (1952). Clark became Disney Professor of Public Archaeology at Cambridge in 1952 and influenced an entire generation of undergraduates to become archaeologists in all parts of the world. He was also the author of the first book on a global human prehistory, World Prehistory (1961).

About this title

About the Author:

Born in England and educated at Cambridge University, Brian Fagan is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is internationally known for his popular books on archaeology. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

From Library Journal:

Over the past half century, many students of archaeology and anthropology have been influenced by Grahame Clark, whose fieldwork, writing, and long teaching career at Cambridge University had a major impact on the study of prehistory. Fagan (anthropology, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara), the author of numerous books on archaeology and one of Clark's former students, was invited to write his biography by Sir Grahame's widow and his literary executors. Fagan had access to Clark's archives at Cambridge and conducted interviews with the archaeologist's colleagues and friends. However, he ultimately lets Clark's publications speak for him. Through them, Fagan traces Clark's development as an archaeologist in England during the 1920s; he also looks at the influences of Gordon Childe, Dorothy Garrod, the young Louis Leakey, and others; Fagan's definitive work on the Mesolithic in northern Europe; his excavations at Star Carr, which set new standards in reporting and training archaeologists; and the inexhaustible stream of scientific writing that continued all his life. With its detailed consideration of Clark's work, Fagan's biography is a worthy testament to his greatness. For biography, archaeology, and history collections, and for students of prehistory. John W. Garland, Detroit P.L.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Westview Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0813336023
• ISBN 13: 9780813336022
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 324