Stuart Ernest Piggott, (28 May 1910 – 23 September 1996) was a British

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, best known for his work on prehistoric

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

Early life

Piggott was born in

Petersfield, Hampshire Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

, the son of G. H. O. Piggott, and was educated there at

Churcher's College Churcher's College is an independent, fee-charging day school for girls and boys, founded in 1722. The Senior School (ages 11–18) is in the market town of Petersfield, Hampshire with the Junior School and Nursery (ages 2 years, 9 months–11) ...

Career

On leaving school in 1927 Piggott took up a post as assistant at

Reading Museum Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing th ...

, where he developed an expertise in

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

pottery. In 1928 he joined the

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; cy, Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectur ...

and spent the next five years producing a revolutionary study of the site of

Butser Hill Butser Hill is a hill and nature reserve in Hampshire, England. South-west of Petersfield, it is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is a national nature reserve and a Special Area of Conservation. Part of it ...

, near

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

. He also worked with Eliot Cecil Curwen on their excavations at The Trundle

causewayed enclosure A causewayed enclosure is a type of large prehistoric earthwork common to the early Neolithic in Europe. It is an enclosure marked out by ditches and banks, with a number of causeways crossing the ditches. More than 100 examples are recorded i ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. In the 1930s he began working for Alexander Keiller, an amateur archaeologist who funded his work from the profits of his

Dundee Marmalade Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamo ...

business. The two dug numerous sites in Wessex including

Avebury Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in t ...

and

Kennet Avenue Kennet Avenue or West Kennet Avenue is a prehistoric site in the English county of Wiltshire. It was an avenue of two parallel lines of stones 25m wide and 2.5 km in length, which ran between the Neolithic sites of Avebury and The Sanctua ...

. In 1933, he joined his friend

Grahame Clark Sir John Grahame Douglas Clark (28 July 1907 – 12 September 1995), who often published as J. G. D. Clark, was a British archaeologist who specialised in the study of Mesolithic Europe and palaeoeconomics. He spent most of his career working at ...

in writing the highly significant paper, "The age of the British flint mines" ('' Antiquity'', 1933): the resultant controversy led to the foundation of the

Prehistoric Society The Prehistoric Society is an international learned society devoted to the study of the human past from the earliest times until the emergence of written history. Now based at University College London in the United Kingdom, it was founded by V. ...

. Still without any formal archaeological qualification, Piggott enrolled at

Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales an ...

's Institute of Archaeology, London, taking his diploma in 1936. It was also here that he met his wife, Peggy (

Margaret Guido Cecily Margaret Guido, (née Preston; 5 August 1912 – 8 September 1994), also known as Peggy Piggott, was an English archaeologist, prehistorian, and finds specialist. Her career in British archaeology spanned sixty years, and she is recogni ...

). In 1937 he published another seminal paper, "The early Bronze Age in Wessex", and with his wife went on in June 1939 to join the burial chamber excavations at

Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two early medieval cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near the English town of Woodbridge. Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when a previously undisturbed ship burial containing a ...

at the invitation of Charles Phillips. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Piggott worked as an air photo interpreter. He was posted to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, where he spent time studying the archaeology of the sub-continent, eventually leading him to write the books ''Some Ancient Cities of India'' (1946) and ''Prehistoric India'' (1950). These experiences provided him with a valuable external view of European prehistory, which was to prove useful on his return to Britain. After the war he went to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

to study the work of William Stukeley, but in 1946 was offered the

Abercromby Chair of Archaeology Abercromby Professorship of Archaeology is a chair at the University of Edinburgh. It was endowed in the will of John Abercromby, 5th Baron Abercromby (1841–1924), who left instructions to establish a chair in prehistoric archaeology at the univ ...

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

(now part of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology), in succession to

Gordon Childe Vere Gordon Childe (14 April 189219 October 1957) was an Australian archaeologist who specialised in the study of European prehistory. He spent most of his life in the United Kingdom, working as an academic for the University of Edinburgh and th ...

. Piggott succeeded in making Edinburgh an archaeology department of international standing. He continued to publish widely. His book ''Neolithic Cultures of the British Isles'' (1954) was highly influential, until

radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...

tests exposed flaws in its chronology. Piggott considered that radiocarbon dating was "archaeologically unacceptable", because every other shred of evidence pointed towards his dates being correct. ''Ancient Europe'' (1965) remained a popular survey of Old World prehistory for more than twenty years, demonstrating his view of the solidarity and continuity of the past in Europe. In 1956 his childless marriage ended. In 1958 Piggott published a survey of Scottish prehistory, ''Scotland before History'', and in 1959 a popular introductory volume, ''Approach to Archaeology''. He was president of the Prehistoric Society from 1960 to 1963, president of the

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usua ...

from 1963 to 1967, president of the

Council for British Archaeology The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is an educational charity established in 1944 in the UK. It works to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment for the benefit of present and futu ...

from 1967 to 1970, and a trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

between 1968 and 1974). In 1963, he produced a thorough analysis of the

Beaker culture The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the Inverted bell, inverted-bell beaker (archaeology), beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the E ...

in Britain, published as part of a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

dedicated to

Cyril Fox Sir Cyril Fred Fox (16 December 1882 – 15 January 1967) was an English archaeologist and museum director. Fox became keeper of archaeology at the National Museum of Wales, and subsequently served as director from 1926 to 1948. His most ...

. Piggott's interest in the early history of the practice of archaeology led to him writing ''The Druids'' in 1968; other books included ''Prehistoric Societies'' (with

), ''The Earliest Wheeled Transport'' (1983), followed by its sequel, ''Wagon, Chariot and Carriage'' (1992). His final book was ''Ancient Britain and the Antiquarian Imagination'' (1989). He died of a heart attack at his home near

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire since 1974. T ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

on 23 September 1996. His remains were cremated on 30 September at

crematorium.

Family

On 12 November 1936, he married Celia Margaret Preston, an archaeologist and finds specialist; they had met while students at the Institute of Archaeology in London. By 1954, their relationship was over, and they divorced in 1956. She became better known under her second married name,

Excavations

Sites he excavated (often with Richard Atkinson) included

Cairnpapple Hill Cairnpapple Hill is a hill with a dominating position in central lowland Scotland with views from coast to coast. It was used and re-used as a major ritual site over about 4000 years, and in its day would have been comparable to better known site ...

in West Lothian;

Wayland's Smithy Wayland's Smithy is an Early Neolithic chambered long barrow located near the village of Ashbury in the south-central English county of Oxfordshire. The barrow is believed to have been constructed about 3600 BC by pastoral communities shortly ...

in Oxfordshire; and

West Kennet Long Barrow The West Kennet Long Barrow, also known as South Long Barrow, is a chambered long barrow near the village of Avebury in the south-western English county of Wiltshire. Probably constructed in the thirty-seventh century BC, during Britain's Earl ...

and

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

in Wiltshire.

Honours

In 1957 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

Robert Schlapp Robert Schlapp FRSE (18 July 1899 – 31 May 1991) was a 20th century British physicist and mathematician of German descent. He was affectionately known as Robin Schlapp. Life He was born in Edinburgh on 18 July 1899, the youngest of three c ...

, David Whitteridge, Sidney Newman, and James Ritchie. He received the

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1972, and was awarded numerous academic awards from scholarly institutions in Britain and abroad. He retired from the Abercromby Chair in 1977 and was awarded the gold medal of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

in 1983 and the

Grahame Clark Medal The Grahame Clark Medal is awarded by the British Academy every two years "for academic achievement involving recent contributions to the study of prehistoric archaeology". It was endowed in 1992 by Sir Grahame Clark, an eminent prehistorian and a ...

of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

in 1992.

Reception and legacy

Vincent Megaw John Vincent Stanley Megaw, (born 1934) ...

commented that "as iggotthimself has said, although he has done his fair share of field work and excavation, his prime concern has been to produce works of synthesis and interpretation". Megaw added that Piggott viewed "archaeology as an oyster to be savoured whole and not simply to be subjected to the minutiae of macrofaunal and calorific analyses." The historian

Ronald Hutton Ronald Edmund Hutton (born 19 December 1953) is an English historian who specialises in Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and Contemporary Paganism. He is a professor at the University of Bristol, has written 14 b ...

stated that it was "one aspect of his greatness that he fostered the study of early modern antiquaries as an integral part of the self-awareness of his profession." In 1968 a number of Piggott's former pupils and colleagues assembled a collection of essays dedicated to him, titled ''Studies in Ancient Europe''. In 1976 Megaw published a second ''

'', which brought in consideration of Piggott's work on the archaeology of Asia and the Americas. In the 2021 film '' The Dig'', which told the story of the Sutton Hoo excavations, Piggott was portrayed by

Ben Chaplin Ben Chaplin (born Benedict John Greenwood; 31 July 1969)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in films, including '' The Truth About Cats & Dogs' ...

, although the film takes some creative license with its presentation of his marriage to his wife Peggy.

Publications

Marjorie Robertson compiled a list of Piggott's books up to 1975 for his ''festschrift''.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Piggott, Stuart People from Petersfield British archaeologists Academics of the University of Edinburgh People associated with the University of Edinburgh School of History, Classics and Archaeology Alumni of the UCL Institute of Archaeology Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1910 births 1996 deaths People educated at Churcher's College People associated with Stonehenge Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Recipients of the Grahame Clark Medal Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 20th-century archaeologists Fellows of the British Academy Sutton Hoo