Editing V. Gordon Childe (section)

===Abercromby Professor of Archaeology: 1927–1946===

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote="Because the early Hindus and Persians did really call themselves ''Aryans'', this term was adopted by some nineteenth-century philologists to designate the speakers of the 'parent tongue'. It is now applied scientifically only to the Hindus, Iranian peoples and the rulers of Mitanni whose linguistic ancestors spoke closely related dialects and even worshipped common deities. As used by Nazis and [[anti-semite]]s generally, the term 'Aryan' means as little as the words 'Bolshie' and 'Red' in the mouths of crusted [[Conservative Party (UK)|tories]]."|salign = right|source=— Gordon Childe criticising the Nazi conception of an [[Aryan]] race, ''What Happened in History'', 1942.{{sfn|Childe|1942|p=150}}}}

In 1927, the [[University of Edinburgh]] offered Childe the post of [[Abercromby Professor of Archaeology]], a new position established in the bequest of the prehistorian [[John Abercromby, 5th Baron Abercromby|Lord Abercromby]]. Although sad to leave London, Childe took the job, moving to [[Edinburgh]] in September 1927.{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1pp=60–61|2a1=Green|2y=1981|2pp=56–57|3a1=Richards|3y=1995|3p=118}} Aged 35, Childe became the "only academic prehistorian in a teaching post in Scotland". Many Scottish archaeologists disliked Childe, regarding him as an outsider with no specialism in Scottish prehistory; he wrote to a friend that "I live here in an atmosphere of hatred and envy".{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=58–59}} He nevertheless made friends in Edinburgh, including archaeologists like [[W. Lindsay Scott]], [[Alexander Curle]], [[J. G. Callender]], and [[Walter Grant (archaeologist)|Walter Grant]], as well as non-archaeologists like the physicist [[Charles Galton Darwin]], becoming godfather to Darwin's youngest son.{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=59–60}} Initially lodging at [[Liberton, Scotland|Liberton]], he moved into the semi-residential Hotel de Vere on Eglinton Crescent.{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=72–73}}

At Edinburgh University, Childe focused on research rather than teaching. He was reportedly kind to his students but had difficulty talking to large audiences; many students were confused that his [[BSc]] degree course in archaeology was structured counter-chronologically, dealing with the more recent [[Iron Age]] first before progressing backward to the [[Palaeolithic]].{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=61–62}} Founding the Edinburgh League of Prehistorians, he took his more enthusiastic students on excavations and invited guest lecturers to visit.{{sfn|Green|1981|p=67}} An early proponent of [[experimental archaeology]], he involved his students in his experiments; in 1937 he used this method to investigate the [[Vitrified fort|vitrification process evident at several Iron Age forts]] in northern Britain.{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=62–63}}

Childe regularly travelled to London to visit friends, among whom was [[Stuart Piggott]], another influential British archaeologist who succeeded Childe as Edinburgh's Abercromby Professor.{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=73–74}} Another friend was [[Grahame Clark]], whom Childe befriended and encouraged in his research.{{sfn|Fagan|2001|p=178}} The trio were elected onto the committee of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia. At Clark's suggestion, in 1935 they used their influence to convert it into a nationwide organisation, the [[Prehistoric Society]], of which Childe was elected president.{{sfnm|1a1=Green|1y=1981|1pp=93–94|2a1=Fagan|2y=2001|2pp=62–63}} Membership of the group grew rapidly; in 1935 it had 353 members and by 1938 it had 668.{{sfn|Fagan|2001|p=63}}

Childe spent much time in continental Europe and attended many conferences there, having learned several European languages. In 1935, he first visited the [[Soviet Union]], spending 12 days in [[Leningrad]] and [[Moscow]]; impressed with the [[socialist state]], he was particularly interested in the social role of Soviet archaeology. Returning to Britain, he became a vocal Soviet sympathiser and avidly read the CPGB's ''[[Morning Star (UK newspaper)|Daily Worker]]'', although was heavily critical of certain Soviet policies, particularly the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] with [[Nazi Germany]].{{sfnm|1a1=Green|1y=1981|1pp=76–77|2a1=Trigger|2y=1994|2pp=17, 20|3a1=Klein|3y=1994|3p=76}} His socialist convictions led to an early denunciation of European [[fascism]], and he was outraged by the [[Ahnenerbe|Nazi co-option of prehistoric archaeology]] to glorify their own conceptions of an Aryan racial heritage.{{Sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1994|1p=17|2a1=Green|2y=1981|2pp=85–86}} Supportive of the British government's decision to fight the fascist powers in the [[Second World War]], he thought it probable that he was [[The Black Book (list)|on a Nazi blacklist]] and made the decision to drown himself in a canal should the Nazis conquer Britain.{{Sfnm|1a1=Green|1y=1981|1p=87|2a1=Pearce|2y=1995|2p=131}} Though opposing fascist Germany and Italy, he also criticised the imperialist, capitalist governments of the United Kingdom and United States: he repeatedly described the latter as being full of "loathsome fascist hyenas".{{sfn|Green|1981|p=86}} This did not prevent him from visiting the U.S. In 1936 he addressed a Conference of Arts and Sciences marking the tercentenary of [[Harvard University]]; there, the university awarded him an [[honorary degree|honorary]] [[Doctor of Letters]] degree.{{sfn|Pearce|1988|p=418}} He returned in 1939, lecturing at Harvard, the [[University of California, Berkeley]], and the [[University of Pennsylvania]].{{sfnm|1a1=Pearce|1y=1988|1p=418|2a1=Pearce|2y=1995|2pp=130, 132}}

====Excavations====

[[File:Skara Brae - geograph.org.uk - 582968.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|Neolithic dwellings at [[Skara Brae]] in [[Orkney]], the site excavated by Childe 1927–30]]

Childe's university position meant he was obliged to undertake archaeological excavations, something he loathed and believed he did poorly.{{sfn|Green|1981|p=64}} Students agreed, but recognised his "genius for interpreting evidence".{{sfn|Green|1981|p=66}} Unlike many contemporaries, he was scrupulous with writing up and publishing his findings, producing almost annual reports for the ''[[Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland]]'' and, unusually, ensuring that he acknowledged the help of every digger.{{sfn|Green|1981|p=67}}

His best-known excavation was undertaken from 1928 to 1930 at [[Skara Brae]] in the [[Orkney Islands]]. Having uncovered a well-preserved Neolithic village, in 1931 he published the excavation results in a book titled ''Skara Brae''. He made an error of interpretation, erroneously attributing the site to the Iron Age.{{sfnm|1a1=Green|1y=1981|1pp=68–71|2a1=Richards|2y=1995|2pp=119–122}} During the excavation, Childe got on particularly well with the locals; for them, he was "every inch the professor" because of his eccentric appearance and habits.{{sfn|Green|1981|p=69}} In 1932, Childe, collaborating with the [[anthropologist]] [[C. Daryll Forde]], excavated two Iron Age [[hillfort]]s at [[Earn's Hugh]] on the [[Berwickshire]] coast,{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=66–67}} while in June 1935 he excavated a [[promontory fort]] at [[Larriban]] near to [[Knocksoghey]] in Northern Ireland.{{sfn|Green|1981|p=68}} Together with Wallace Thorneycroft, another Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Childe excavated two vitrified Iron Age forts in Scotland, at [[Finavon]], [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]] (1933–34) and at [[Rahoy]], [[Argyllshire]] (1936–37).{{sfn|Green|1981|p=63}} In 1938, he and Walter Grant oversaw excavations at the Neolithic settlement of [[Rinyo]]; their investigation ceased during the Second World War, but resumed in 1946.{{sfn|Richards|1995|pp=123–125}}

====Publications====

Childe continued writing and publishing books on archaeology, beginning with a series of works following on from ''The Dawn of European Civilisation'' and ''The Aryans'' by compiling and synthesising data from across Europe. First was ''The Most Ancient Near East'' (1928), which assembled information from across Mesopotamia and India, setting a background from which the spread of farming and other technologies into Europe could be understood.{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1pp=61–67|2a1=McNairn|2y=1980|2pp=21–24|3a1=Green|3y=1981|3p=90}} This was followed by ''The Danube in Prehistory'' (1929) which examined the archaeology along the [[Danube]] river, recognising it as the natural boundary dividing the Near East from Europe; Childe believed it was via the Danube that new technologies travelled westward. Although Childe had used culture-historical approaches in earlier publications, ''The Danube in Prehistory'' was his first publication to provide a specific definition of the concept of an [[archaeological culture]], revolutionising the theoretical approach of British archaeology.{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1pp=56–60|2a1=Green|2y=1981|2pp=90–92}}
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote="We find certain types of remains—pots, implements, ornaments, burial rites, house forms—constantly recurring together. Such a complex of regularly associated traits we shall term a 'cultural group' or just a 'culture'. We assume that such a complex is the material expression of what today would be called a people."|salign = right|source=— Gordon Childe, ''The Danube in Prehistory'', 1929.{{sfnm|1a1=Childe|1y=1929|1pp=v–vi|2a1=Johnson|2y=2010|2p=17}}}}

Childe's next book, ''The Bronze Age'' (1930), dealt with the [[Bronze Age]] in Europe, and displayed his increasing adoption of Marxist theory as a means of understanding how society functioned and changed. He believed metal was the first indispensable article of commerce, and that metal-smiths were therefore full-time professionals who lived off the [[social surplus]].{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1pp=67–74|2a1=McNairn|2y=1980|2pp=24–26|3a1=Green|3y=1981|3p=92}} In 1933, Childe travelled to Asia, visiting Iraq—a place he thought "great fun"—and India, which he felt was "detestable" due to the hot weather and extreme poverty. Touring archaeological sites in the two countries, he opined that much of what he had written in ''The Most Ancient Near East'' was outdated, going on to produce ''New Light on the Most Ancient Near East'' (1935), in which he applied his Marxist-influenced ideas about the economy to his conclusions.{{sfnm|1a1=McNairn|1y=1980|1pp=26–27|2a1=Green|2y=1981|2p=93}}

After publishing ''Prehistory of Scotland'' (1935), Childe produced one of the defining books of his career, ''Man Makes Himself'' (1936). Influenced by Marxist views of history, Childe argued that the usual distinction between (pre-literate) prehistory and (literate) history was a [[false dichotomy]] and human society has progressed through a series of technological, economic, and social revolutions. These included the [[Neolithic Revolution]], when hunter-gatherers began settling in permanent farming communities, through to the [[Urban Revolution]], when society moved from small towns to the first cities, and up to more recent times, when the [[Industrial Revolution]] changed the nature of production.{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1pp=83–87, 104–110|2a1=McNairn|2y=1980|2pp=27–30|3a1=Green|3y=1981|3pp=96–97}}

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Childe was unable to travel across Europe, instead focusing on writing ''Prehistoric Communities of the British Isles'' (1940).{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1pp=83–87|2a1=Green|2y=1981|2p=97}} Childe's pessimism regarding the war's outcome led him to believe that "European civilization—capitalist and [[Stalinist]] alike—was irrevocably headed for a Dark Age".{{sfn|Green|1981|pp=97–98}} In this state of mind he produced a sequel to ''Man Makes Himself'' titled ''What Happened in History'' (1942), an account of human history from the Palaeolithic through to the fall of the [[Roman Empire]]. Although [[Oxford University Press]] offered to publish the work, he released it through [[Penguin Books]] because they could sell it at a cheaper price, something he believed pivotal in providing knowledge for those he called "the masses".{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1pp=110–114|2a1=McNairn|2y=1980|2pp=33–38|3a1=Green|3y=1981|3pp=97–98}} This was followed by two short works, ''Progress and Archaeology'' (1944) and ''The Story of Tools'' (1944), the latter an explicitly Marxist text written for the [[Young Communist League]].{{sfnm|1a1=Trigger|1y=1980|1pp=114–117, 151|2a1=Green|2y=1981|2pp=99–100}}