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Paul Ashbee (23 June 1918 – 19 August 2009) was a leading British
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, ...
, noted for his many excavations of barrows, or
burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
s, and for co-directing the
Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Archaeology, Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when an undisturbed ship burial containing a wea ...
digs (with
Rupert Bruce-Mitford Rupert Leo Scott Bruce-Mitford (14 June 1914 – 10 March 1994) was a British archaeologist and scholar. He spent the majority of his career at the British Museum, primarily as the Keeper of the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities, ...
) from 1964 to 1972. He was also president of the Just William Society. He died of cancer on 19 August 2009, aged 91.


Personal life

The only child of cabinet maker Lewis Ashbee and Hannah Mary Elisabeth, daughter of house decorator William Edward Birch Brett, of
Thanet Thanet may refer to: * Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England * Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College * Thanet Ca ...
, Kent, Paul Ashbee was born in
Bearsted Bearsted ( , ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish with a railway station in mid-Kent, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Maidstone town centre. Geography The village was historically concentrated around Church Lan ...
, near
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
,
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 ...
. He made national headlines when he uncovered the remains of a Roman villa on a farm at Thurnham when still a teenager. He joined the
Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen' ...
for the duration of the war, followed by the Control Commission for Germany. Although without any qualifications he studied for a diploma in ''European prehistoric archaeology'' at the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
in 1952, followed by a diploma in education at
Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...
and a MA at
Leicester University The University of Leicester ( ) is a public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, University College, Leicester, gained university ...
. He became an assistant history master at Britain's first
comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...
, Forest Hill School,
Forest Hill, London Forest Hill is a district of the London Borough of Lewisham in south London, south east London, England, on the South Circular Road, London, South Circular Road, which is home to the Horniman Museum. History Like much of Greater London, Fo ...
where he stayed until 1966. He married Richmal Disher in 1952; the niece and literary executor of
Richmal Crompton Richmal Crompton Lamburn (15 November 1890 – 11 January 1969) was a popular English writer, best known for her ''Just William (book series), Just William'' series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books. L ...
, she was a history student and they met at a dig at
Verulamium Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. The major ancient Roman route Watling Street passed through the city, but was realigned in medieval times to bring trad ...
,
St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
in 1949. She died in 2005, after which Ashbee became president of the Just William Society.


Archaeology

Ashbee went into archaeology (during school holidays) after service in the army through the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He excavated widely across southern Britain and is best known as a leading authority on Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows. From 1976 to 1980 he was the President of the Cornwall Archaeology Society, and was also a commissioner of the
Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...
for 10 years.


Excavations

* 1949–50 — cemetery at Porthcressa, St Mary's,
Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...
* 1950–52 — assistant to
Rupert Bruce-Mitford Rupert Leo Scott Bruce-Mitford (14 June 1914 – 10 March 1994) was a British archaeologist and scholar. He spent the majority of his career at the British Museum, primarily as the Keeper of the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities, ...
on the early medieval settlement at
Mawgan Porth Mawgan Porth (in , meaning "St. Mawgan's cove", or ''Porth Gluwyan'', meaning "cove of the Gluvian River") is a beach and small settlement in north Cornwall, England. It is north of Watergate Bay, approximately four miles (6 km) north of N ...
* 1955 — barrow at Tregulland, north-east of
Bodmin Moor Bodmin Moor () is a granite moorland in north-eastern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is in size, and dates from the Carboniferous period of geology, geological history. It includes Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall, and Rough To ...
* 1960 — barrow at Wilsford,
Normanton Down Normanton Down is a Neolithic and Bronze Age barrow cemetery, about south of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. The burials date from between 2600 and 1600 BC and consist of a Neolithic long barrow and some 40 or more Bronze Age round barrow ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
* 1964–71 — co-director with Rupert Bruce-Mitford at
Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Archaeology, Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when an undisturbed ship burial containing a wea ...
* 1970–? — replacement of the capstones of the entrance grave at
Bant's Carn Bant's Carn is a Bronze Age entrance grave located on a steep slope on the island of St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly, England. The tomb is one of the best examples of a Scillonian entrance grave. Below Bant's Carn, lies the remains of the Iro ...
and the multi-period settlement at Halangy, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly


Selected works

* * * 1960 ''The Bronze Age Round Barrow in Britain'', Littlehampton Book Services Ltd, * 1970 ''The Earthen Long Barrow in Britain'', University of Toronto Press, * 1974 ''Ancient Scilly'', David & Charles, * 1978 ''The Ancient British'', Geo Abstracts, * 199
''Halangy Down, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, Excavations 1964–1977''
Cornish Archaeology No 35 * 2005 ''Kent in Prehistoric Times'', The History Press,


References

:


External links


Just William Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashbee, Paul 1918 births 2009 deaths English archaeologists People from Bearsted History of the Isles of Scilly People of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Military personnel from Kent British Army personnel of World War II Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment soldiers