In March 1969 after the inaugurial meeting of the Box Archaeological and Natural History Society (Box, Wiltshire, UK), my father invited the celebrated speaker and members of the new committee for coffee at our house. Professor Richard Atkinson, the speaker, had become a household name at that time, thanks to his televised excavations of the pyramid-sized, prehistoric mound at Silbury Hill (one of David Attenborough’s many initiatives when he was D-G of BBC2). Roy Hodges in f

I was reading some proofs today and remembered with a start that Sheila Gibson, the peerless archaeological architect, who died on January 8, 2002, was born a hundred years ago this year. Below a short story about my first opportunity to work with her in 1971 at Knidos. She was a remarkable person and a joy to have as a friend. Sheila Gibson (1920-2002) Knidos, Turkey July 1971 ‘How about helping me today on a little task?’ Sheila asked, uncapping her pot of Robinson’s marmal

Robert Harris’ characteristically gripping thriller about the race to locate the launch sites of the deadly German V2 ballistic bombs that rained on London in 1944 includes a cameo by the celebrated prehistorian, Dorothy Garrod (1892-1968). Dorothy Garrod in the WAAF Dorothy Garrod plays the mentor of one of the principal characters in Harris’s story. She comes across as benign and thoughtful as well as punctiliously diligent. What Harris doesn’t let on is that she was Britai