Cornwall, Ian Wolfram

Basic Biographical Information

Ian Cornwall (1909–1994) was an important figure in the early development of what became environmental archaeology and in particular in the study of animal bones from archaeological deposits. Although his background was in the arts, Cornwall was strongly influenced by the pioneering geochronologist Frederick Zeuner (1905–1963), and he became reader in Human Environment at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London, by the time of his retirement in 1974.

Major Accomplishments

Cornwall’s reputation rests on a series of textbooks that he produced in the 1950s and 1960s. Bones for the Archaeologist (1956; revised 2nd ed. 1974) aimed to put a working knowledge of skeletal anatomy within the reach of archaeologists and Quaternary scientists. The book’s structure resembles Flowers’ classic text Osteology of the Mammalia (1885) and is notable for its anatomical precision, verging on pedantry. The style, however, is highly accessible and Bones for the...