Charles Francis Christopher Hawkes, FBA, FSA (5 June 1905 – 29 March 1992) was an English

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

specialising in European prehistory. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

from 1946 to 1972. He was educated at

Sandroyd School Sandroyd School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for day and boarding pupils aged 2 to 13 in the south of Wiltshire, England. The school's main building is Rushmore House, a 19th-century country house which is surrounded by th ...

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he obtained first class honours in classics. He began archaeological work at the British Museum, where he was Assistant Keeper in Pre-Historic and Romano-British Antiquities from 1928. In May 1946, Dr Hugh Fawcett took Hawkes some pieces from the newly discovered

Mildenhall Treasure The Mildenhall Treasure is a large hoard of 34 masterpieces of Roman Empire, Roman silver tableware from the fourth century AD, and by far the most valuable Roman objects artistically and by weight of bullion in Britain. It may have been found ...

. It was Hawkes who identified them as late Roman silver. He was appointed Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford later in 1946. He was a Fellow of

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Society of Antiquaries in 1981, now held by the Heberden Coin Room, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. In 1933 he was married to Jacquetta Hopkins, with whom he co-authored ''Prehistoric Britain'' (1937); they divorced in 1953. He married Sonia Chadwick, also an archaeologist, in 1959. They jointly edited ''Greeks, Celts and Romans: studies in venture and resistance'', 1973. He was survived by his wife Sonia and son, Nicholas.

Biography

Early life: 1905–1914

Hawkes' paternal family had been ironmasters in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, operating The Eagle Iron Foundry. His paternal grandfather Charles Samuel Hawkes moved to

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Prior to 1965, it was part of Kent. It is situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

with his seven children following the death of his wife; he later moved to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, where he married again. Hawkes' father, C. P. Hawkes, was raised in Kent, before studying history at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

from 1894 to 1897. He travelled to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, where he met a woman who was half-Spanish and half-English, and they subsequently married, resulting in Hawkes' birth. C. P. Hawkes was also a published author. Being schooled in London, Hawkes inherited his father's fascination with past societies, influenced in this by the scenery of southern England and what he had read in the works of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

. When the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out in August 1914, Hawkes' father volunteered to join several friends in the Special Reserve of the

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and ...

; he brought his family to

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

with him, where Christopher encountered archaeological and historical monuments in the North-East, such as

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

and

Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...

. Hawkes was a scholar at

between 1918 and 1924. Whilst at the College, he painted a frieze based on the

Bayeux Tapestry The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidery, embroidered cloth nearly long and tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest, Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William the Conqueror, William, Duke of Normandy challenging H ...

Personality

According to Brian Fagan, Hawkes was "a complex character" and "an ardent and extremely skilled typologist".

Selected works

* ''The Prehistoric Foundations of Europe To the Mycenean Age'' (Methuen, 1940) * ''Saint Catherine's Hill Winchester'' (Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society (Warren and Son Limited , The Wykeham Press, 1930) * Duval, Paul-Marie ; Hawkes, Christopher (edited by), '''Celtic Art in Ancient Europe: Five Protohistoric Centuries. Proceedings of the Colloquy held in 1972 at the Oxford Maison Francaise (Seminar Press, 1976) * Hawkes, Christopher ; Dunning, G. C., '''The Belgae of Gaul and Britain - bound offprint from Archaeological Journal LXXXVII

930 Year 930 ( CMXXX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is established at þingvellir ("Thing Fields"). Chieftains from various tribes gather for ...

pp. 150–335 and Index pp. 531–541. (Archaeological Journal, 1930) * Hawkes, Christopher and Jacquetta, '''Prehistoric Britain (Pelican Books / Penguin Books, 1952)

Biography

Early life: 1905–1914

Personality

Selected works

References

Further reading