Sifting the Soil of Greece

David W.J. Gill, Sifting the Soil of Greece: the Early Years of the British School at Athens (1886-1919). Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, suppl. 111. London: Institute of Classical Studies, 2011. ISBN 978-1-905670-32-1. £38. xiv + 474 pp.[WorldCat]The British School at Athens opened...

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BSA Students and Crete in the First World War

Students of the BSA had been involved in a series of excavations across Crete since the foundation of the Cretan Exploration Fund. These had included Knossos, the Dictaean Cave, Kato Zakro, Praesos, Palaikastro, the Kamares Cave and Plati.Three former BSA students were commissioned as officers in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR): Richard M. Dawkins (1871-1955), John C. Lawson (1874-1935),...

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Cretan Exploration Fund: Anthropology

Human and animal remains from excavations of the Cretan Exploration Fund were send to Professor William Boyd Dawkins (1837-1929) of Manchester University. Boyd Dawkins was a friend of Evans and was invited to Knossos. He had worked on cave deposits in England, notably Wookey Hole and Cresswell Crags,...

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Oxford and the Managing Committee

The University of Oxford's nominee on the Managing committee was David Binning Monro (1836-1905), Provost of Oriel College (from 1882). On his death the nominee was Professor Percy Gardner (1846-1937) who held the Lincoln and Merton chair in Classical Archaeology (from 1887). Gardner had served on the original Managing Committee when he held the Disney chair of archaeology in Cambridge.Those elected...

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Publishing the results of BSA projects

Articles on BSA projects were initially published in The Journal of Hellenic Studies and then in The Annual of the British School at Athens (from vol. 1 for the session 1894/95). Reports on major projects (Megalopolis, Phylakopi and Sparta) then appeared as Supplementary Papers for the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies:Gardner, E. A., W. Loring, G. C. Richards, W. J. Woodhouse, and R....

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John Pendlebury: The Rash Adventurer

The research of John Pendlebury (1904-41) bridged the gap between Bronze Age Crete and Egypt. He was educated at Winchester, and Pembroke College, Cambridge. Grundon's detailed study gives a view of research at the BSA during the 1920s and 1930s. It covers Pendlebury's key work on Crete and his excavations...

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Architects and the BSA

Architectural students form a significant group at the BSA. This is a preliminary list.The first arrangements for an architect to be admitted the BSA were made in November 1887. This was the result of an initiative from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) ‘to assist upon architectural work in excavations’.The first architectural student was Ravenscroft Elsey Smith (1859-1930), son of...

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