Richard Goodchild

Richard George Goodchild (born July 18, 1918 in Exeter , † February 18, 1968 in London ) was a British Provincial Roman archaeologist . He is one of the pioneers of archeology in Libya .

Education and career

Goodchild's interest in archeology began as a schoolboy at Cranleigh School, an independent boarding school in Surrey . From 1936, he attended the University of Oxford is part of Oriel College to study history. There he got to know the University's Archaeological Society and became a member of it. At the time, groups from this society moved to the countryside on free afternoons to carry out excavations. During one of these excavations, Goodchild met among others the archaeologist Olwen Brogan (1900-1989) and the later pioneer of aerial archeology, John Bradford (1918-1975) know. While they were still studying, Goodchild and Bradford excavated the Gallo-Roman temple at Frilford in Oxfordshire .

Immediately after graduating from Oxford, World War II broke out. Goodchild received an officer's scholarship to join the Royal Artillery. With the rank of captain , he served in the Middle East and Italy . Whenever possible, he took every opportunity to visit the ancient sites of the countries in which he served.

Goodchild worked for the British military administration from 1946 to 1948 as head of the collection of antiquities in the Italian province of Tripolitania , which was now occupied by the Allies . There he met Brogan again and began his longstanding collaboration with the archaeologist John Bryan Ward-Perkins (1912–1981), who had been the director of the British School in Rome since 1945 . In 1947 Goodchild became a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London and from 1948 to 1953 he worked as a librarian at the British School in Rome. During this activity he was always in Tripolitania during his vacation in order to contribute to the preservation of the ancient cultural heritage on a tight budget. He also carried out surveying work on the ancient sites and led excavations in the hinterland. In addition, he led several expeditions to southern Tripolitania. In order to create a map of Roman times Libya, he expanded his research area to Cyrenaica and Syrtica . The resulting two sheets for the research project " Tabula Imperii Romani ", which was initiated by Ward-Perkins among others after the war, were published by the Society of Antiquaries of London after their completion.

In 1953 he was appointed head of the Antiquities Service for the province of Kyrenaica by the royal Libyan government. He held this position until 1966. In 1967 he was appointed professor of archeology for the Roman provinces at the University of London .

Publications (selection)

• Libyan Studies. Select Papers of the Late RG Goodchild. Elek, London 1976, ISBN 0-236-17680-3
• Cyrene and Apollonia (= ruined cities of North Africa. Volume 4). Raggi, Zurich 1971.
• Fortificazioni e palazzi bizantini in Tripolitania e Cirenaica. In: Corso di Cultura sull'Arte Ravennate e Bizantina. Volume 13, 1966, pp. 225-250.
• Tabula Imperii Romani: Map of the Roman Empire based on the International 1: 1,000,000 Map of the World, Sheet HI 33. Lepcis Magna. Society of Antiquaries of London, Oxford 1954.
• Tabula Imperii Romani. Map of the Roman Empire based on the International 1: 1,000,000 Map of the World, sheet HI34: Cyrene. Society of Antiquaries of London, Oxford 1954.
• with John Bryan Ward Perkins: The Christian Antiquities of Tripolitania. In: Archaeologia or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity. Volume 95, 1953, pp. 1-84.
• with John Bryan Ward Perkins: The Roman and Byzantine Defences of Lepcis Magna. In: Papers of the British School at Rome. Volume 21, 1953, pp. 42-73.
• The Roman Roads and Milestones of Tripolitania. Discoveries and Researches in 1947. Department of Antiquities, British Military Administration, Tripolitania 1948.

literature

• Olwen Brogan: Richard Goodchild. In: Azania. Archaeological Research in Africa. Volume 3, 1968, pp. 9-10.