Introduction

Abstract

‘Much,’ observes Glyn Daniel, ‘has been written on the history of British archaeology’¹ and this is most certainly true. It is curious, therefore, that so little attempt has been made to relate the practice of archaeology to the social conditions of the time, to see how money, the educational and political system and the class structure have determined both the selection and ambitions of archaeologists and the way in which they have set about their work. The present book tries to fill this gap. It looks at the kind of people who have been influential in archaeology from mid-Victorian times onwards, at the methods by which archaeological work has been financed, at the prestige which has been given to archaeologists and their achievements, and at the extent to which they have felt obliged to explain themselves and their activities to the general public.