Editing V. Gordon Childe (section)

===Retirement and death: 1956–1957===

In mid-1956, Childe retired as IOA director a year prematurely. European archaeology had rapidly expanded during the 1950s, leading to increasing specialisation and making the synthesising that Childe was known for increasingly difficult.{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1p=166|2a1=Green|2y=1981|2p=126}} That year, the institute was moving to [[Gordon Square]], Bloomsbury, and Childe wanted to give his successor, [[W.F. Grimes]], a fresh start in the new surroundings.{{sfn|Green|1981|p=142}} To commemorate his achievements, the ''[[Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society]]'' published a ''[[Festschrift]]'' edition on the last day of his directorship containing contributions from friends and colleagues all over the world, something that touched Childe deeply.{{sfn|Green|1981|p=142}} Upon his retirement, he told many friends he planned to return to Australia, visit his relatives, and commit suicide; he was terrified of becoming old, senile, and a burden on society, and suspected he had [[cancer]].{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=143–144}} Subsequent commentators suggested that a core reason for his suicidal desires was a loss of faith in Marxism following the Hungarian Revolution and [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s [[On the Personality Cult and its Consequences|denouncement of Joseph Stalin]],{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1pp=166–167|2a1=Faulkner|2y=2007|2p=115}} although [[Bruce Trigger]] dismissed this explanation, noting that while Childe was critical of Soviet foreign policy, he never saw the state and Marxism as synonymous.{{sfn|Trigger|1980|p=167}}
[[File:Govetts leap bm.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|A view of [[Grose Valley]] from Govetts Leap, the site where Childe chose to end his life]]

Sorting out his affairs, Childe donated most of his library and all of his estate to the institute.{{sfnm|1a1=Green|1y=1981|1p=144|2a1=Barton|2y=2000|2p=769}} After a February 1957 holiday visiting archaeological sites in Gibraltar and Spain, he sailed to Australia, reaching Sydney on his 65th birthday. Here, the University of Sydney, which had once barred him from working there, awarded him an honorary degree.{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1p=166|2a1=Green|2y=1981|2pp=145–146}} He travelled around the country for six months, visiting family members and old friends, but was unimpressed by Australian society, believing it reactionary, increasingly suburban, and poorly educated.{{sfn|Green|1981|p=147}} Looking into Australian prehistory, he found it a profitable field for research,{{sfn|Green|1981|p=149}} and lectured to archaeological and leftist groups on this and other topics, taking to Australian radio to criticise academic racism towards [[Indigenous Australians]].{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=150–151}}

Writing personal letters to many friends,{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=151–152}} he sent one to Grimes, requesting that it not be opened until 1968. In it, he described how he feared old age and stated his intention to take his own life, remarking that "life ends best when one is happy and strong".{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=152–154}} On 19 October 1957, Childe went to the area of Govett's Leap in [[Blackheath, New South Wales|Blackheath]], an area of the Blue Mountains where he had grown up. Leaving his hat, spectacles, compass, pipe, and [[Mackintosh]] raincoat on the cliffs, he fell 1000 feet (300 m) to his death.{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1p=166|2a1=Green|2y=1981|2p=154}} A coroner ruled his death as accidental, but his death was recognised as suicide when his letter to Grimes was published in the 1980s.{{sfnm|1a1=Green|1y=1981|1p=154|2a1=Barton|2y=2000|2p=769}} His remains were cremated at the [[Northern Suburbs Crematorium]], and his name added to a small family plaque in the Crematorium Gardens.{{sfn|Barton|2000|pp=769–770}} Following his death, an "unprecedented" level of tributes and memorials were issued by the archaeological community,{{sfn|Trigger|1980|p=11}} all, according to Ruth Tringham, testifying to his status as Europe's "greatest prehistorian and a wonderful human being".{{sfn|Tringham|1983|p=85}}