Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (51 page)

Atkinson , Richard John Copland
(1920–94)
[Bi].

British archaeologist and academic, well known for his excavations in Neolithic and Bronze Age sites. Born in Dorset and educated at Sherborne School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he read PPE. As a Quaker he was a non-combatant during WW2, employed instead on ditch-digging and hospital duties. In 1944 he returned to Oxford as Assistant Keeper of Archaeology in the Ashmolean Museum. Almost immediately he began excavating at Dorchester-on-Thames, later with help from Stuart Piggott . In 1949 he was appointed to a lectureship in archaeology at Edinburgh University, and in 1958 became the first Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff where he remained until his retirement in 1983. Throughout these years he was active in the field, excavating at Stonehenge in 1953–6, the West Kennet long barrow with Piggott in 1955–6, and at Wayland's Smithy in 1962–3. In 1968–9 he undertook an examination of Silbury Hill under the watchful eye of the BBC television cameras. University administration was a call on his time later in life: between 1966 and 1970 he was Dean of Arts at Cardiff and between 1970 and 1974 he was Vice-Principal of the University. This stood him in good stead for being a member of the University Grants Committee between 1973 and 1982. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1946 and appointed a CBE in 1979. At the time of his death many of his excavations remained unpublished, but this has since been rectified through the diligent work of his successors at Cardiff.
[Obit.:
British Archaeological News
, NS 18 (November 1994), 11]

 
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A biostratigraphic subdivision of the
FLANDRIAN
in which conditions were warmer and damper than today, the climatic optimum of the Flandrian. Godwin's
POLLEN ZONE VII
(
c.
5500–3000 bc) characterized by the development of mixed forest of oak, elm, alder, and lime in southern Britain. Some woodland clearance by late Mesolithic groups during this period has been found, but the Atlantic traditionally ends with the
ELM DECLINE
.

 
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An earthly paradise described by Plato in his
Timaeus
, that has tantalized and exasperated explorers and romantics ever since. Perhaps drawing on earlier sources, but probably based largely on folk myth, Plato describes Atlantis as an island in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar that was destroyed because of the wickedness of its inhabitants. Many guesses have been made as to its location, and numerous attempts have been made to find traces of its existence.

 
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American term used for a spear-thrower. An atlatl provided a means of increasing the thrust exerted on a spear or other projectile by artificially extending the length of the thrower's arm and thus the leverage available.

 
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Increase in the atmospheric concentration of radiocarbon caused by the nuclear explosions of the mid 20th century
ad
and after.

 
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A technique used in archaeology to determine the chemical composition of metals, pottery, minerals, and rocks of various kinds. A powdered sample of the material to be examined (typically 10–100 mg) is dissolved in an aqueous liquid which is then atomized in a flame. A beam of light of controlled wavelength is shone through the flame to a detector on the other side. The wavelength is selected so that atoms of the element under study will absorb some of the light and so will not reach the detector. The amount of energy absorbed is directly proportional to the concentration of the element in the sample.