Graham Ritchie

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James Neil Graham Ritchie (born September 17, 1942 in Edinburgh , † April 27, 2005 ibid) was a Scottish prehistoric archaeologist . He mainly researched the prehistory and early history of Scotland and authored over 100 books and publications.

life and work

In Edinburgh, Graham Ritchie attended Arbroath High School, where his father WF Ritchie taught ancient languages. He then enrolled at Edinburgh University where he wanted to study English . The lectures of the archaeologist Stuart Piggott (1910-1996) impressed him very much, so that he decided to study prehistoric archeology. In 1964 he graduated from this field of study with the academic title of master and continued it with a doctoral degree in which he specialized in Celtic defense weapons. In 1968 he was awarded the doctorate . He published the results of his research in 1985 together with his father in the book Celtic Warrior . During his doctoral studies he was already working on important excavations, such as the final theses of the investigations led by Charles Thomas at Gwithian , on Ardwall Island off the coast of Galloway and together with his teacher Piggott at Wayland's Smithy on the Ridgeway National Trail .

In 1968 he married the archaeologist Anna Bachelier, whom he later supported in her own excavations on Orkney and with whom he wrote numerous publications together. The couple had a son and a daughter.

From 1965, Graham Ritchie worked as an excavator for the "Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland", which was currently working on an inventory of the prehistoric sites in Lanarkshire and Argyll . An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Lanarkshire was published in 1978. But it took more than 20 years of work until Ritchie was able to complete the work Argyll: an inventory of the monuments , which was published in seven volumes between 1971 and 1992.

From 1996 to 1998, Graham Ritchie was Chief of Archeology at the Royal Commission on The Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland , for which he had worked continuously since 1965. From 1999 to 2002 he was President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London .

Works (selection)

  • with Anna Ritchie: Scotland. Archeology and Early History (= Ancient Peoples and Places . Vol. 99). Thames & Hudson Ltd., London 1981, ISBN 0-500-02100-7 .
  • with Anna Ritchie: The Ancient Monuments of Orkney. Edited by Patrick Ashmore. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Edinburgh 1995, ISBN 0-11-495734-7 .
  • with Audrey S. Henshall: The Chambered Cairns of Sutherland. An Inventory of the Structures and Their Contents. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1995, ISBN 0-7486-0609-2 .
  • as editor: The Archeology of Argyll. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1997, ISBN 0-7486-0645-9 .
  • with Anna Ritchie: Scotland. To Oxford Archaeological Guide (= Oxford Archaeological Guides ). Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1998, ISBN 0-19-288002-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Graham Ritchie - Energetic archaeologist and protector of Scotland's antiquities, whose enthusiasm was distilled in his tasks and books . Obituary in The Times newspaper, June 5, 2005 (accessed September 6, 2010)

literature

  • Roger Mercer: Obituary. Graham Ritchie MA, MBA, PhD, FSA, FSAScot, 1942-2005. In: Antiquity. Vol. 79, No. 305, 2005, ISSN  0003-598X , pp. 741-743.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ritchie, Graham
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ritchie, James Neil Graham (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish prehistorian
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 2005
Place of death Edinburgh , Scotland