The archaeology of Joseph Anderson
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11006802 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Angus Graham (0000-0003-0171-0904, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1978 |
| Volume | 107 |
| Pages | 279-298 |
| Publication date | 1978-11-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0081-1564 • E-ISSN: 2056-743X |
| Publisher | Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.9750/psas.107.279.298 |
| OpenAlex | W4360912087 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 25 |
wrote, at the opening of his Prehistory of Scotland, that by 1886 he 'had sketched the essential outlines of Scottish prehistory in a comprehensive and scientific survey such as then existed in no other country ' (1935, xi).The Council of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, likewise, in a minute recording his retirement from the National Museum of Antiquities in 1913, alluded to his 'learning, judgment and scientific attainments, and the prestige which he has won for the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland through his European reputation as an Archaeologist' (Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 47 (1912-13), 340).A panegyric pronounced at a general meeting of the Society on the same occasion (Guthrie 1913) is too long for quotation but deserves to be read in full.Andersen's standing being such as to call for recognition of this kind, it is strange that no closer assessment seems to have been made of his archaeological achievement in all its aspects, and the purpose of the present paper is to do something to supply this want, while also providing, in an Appendix, a complete list of Anderson's published works.In attempting this task the writer is further influenced by an antiquarian pietas, as he survives from an era when Anderson's opinions might still carry great weight, and in fact once met him in person.Seen as an introduction to his later career, Anderson's early life seems fraught with improbabilities.He was born at Arbroath in 1832, to parents in very modest circumstances.His father was David Anderson, described as a weaver in the record of his marriage in 1831 to Jane Arnot, Joseph's mother, but as an agricultural labourer in the censuses of 1841 and 1851, again as a day-labourer in the certificate of Joseph's marriage in 1856, and as a weaver in Joseph's death-certificate of 1916.The two census returns show the family as living at St Vigeans, with David working on the Letham and Kirkton estates respectively in 1841 and 1851; in the return of 1851 Joseph, then 19, is shown as a private teacher of Latin and English. 1 Joseph received his earliest education in the parish school of St Vigeans, and in 1844 went to the newly-founded Arbroath Educational Institution.From 1852 to 1856 he taught in the East Free School, Arbroath, and in the latter year married Jessie Dempster, daughter of James Dempster, a grocer and spirit-dealer of Hill Street, Arbroath.At the time of his marriage he was living in Union Street, Arbroath, but in the same year (1856) he removed to Constantinople, where he taught in the English School at Hasskeui until 1859, returning to Scotland in 1860 to become editor of the Wick-based John-of-Groats Journal.Whether or not as a consequence of contact in Turkey with remains of Classical antiquity, on his return to Scotland he embarked on his archaeological career, residence in Wick permitting him to study prehistoric remains in Caithness and to excavate some of the local chambered cairns in association with the Anthropological Society of London
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A Neolithic Carved Stone Ball From Scotland Acquired by Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury), With Comments on the Scottish Connections of Lubbock and His Collection
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Notice of Trials for Witchcraft at Crook of Devon, Kinross-shire, in 1662
Notice of a Bronze Bell of Celtic Type at Forteviot, Perthshire
Notice of Ancient Celtic Bells at Glenlyon, Fortingall, and Inch
Notice of the Discovery of a Cist containing three Urns of Food-Vessel Type at Duncra Hill Farm, Pencaitland
Notices of some recently-discovered Inscribed and Sculptured Stones
Notices of the Quigrich or Crozier of St Fillan and of its Hereditary Keepers, in a Letter to John Stuart
Historical Notices of St Fillan's Crozier, and of the Devotion of King Robert Bruce to St. Fillan
Notice of a Bronze Sword, with Handle-Plates of Horn, found at Aird, Island of Lewis
Notice of Excavations in the Chambered Mound of Maeshowe, in Orkney, and of the Runic Inscriptions on the Walls of its central Chamber
Notice of a Small Cemetery of the Bronze Age, recently discovered at Shanwell, Milnathort, Kinross-shire
Notice of a Remarkable Find of Bronze Swords and other Bronze Articles in Edinburgh; with Notes on Bronze Swords found in Scotland
Notice of a Celtic Bell of Bronze from Little Dunkeld
Notices of Cists discovered in a Cairn at Cairnhill, parish of Monquhitter, Aberdeenshire, and at Doune, Perthshire
Notes on Three Buttons of Jet or Cannel-coal found in a Cist at Old Windymains, Keith-Marischal, East Lothian
Notes on two Highland Targets, from Dunollie Castle, near Oban, Argyleshire
Notes on some Polished Stone Discs of Unknown Use in the Museum
Notes on the Structure, Distribution, and Contents of the Brochs, with special reference to the question of their Celtic or Norwegian Origin
Notes of a small Cemetery of Cists and Urns at Magdalen Bridge, near Joppa
Note on Four Small Flasks of Terra Cotta, bearing representations of St Menas, from Alexandria, now in the Museum
Notes on Two Chisels or Punches of Bronze-like Metal from Sutherlandshire and Dumfries
The Confessions of the Forfar Witches (1661), from the Original Documents in the Society's Library
Note on a Late Celtic Armlet of Bronze, now presented to the National Museum; with Notes on the Identification of Two other Late Celtic Armlets in the Museum, and on a massive Bronze Armlet recently found in Sutherlandshire
The Oldest Bronze-Age Ceramic Type in Britain; its Close Analogies on the Rhine; its Probable Origin in Central Europe
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,22 |
| Citation span | 1990 - 2020 (31) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |