tour 14 of 15
Enlightenment: The Birth of Archaeology
Frontispiece from Revd James Douglas, Nenia Britannica, a book
Modern archaeology owes a great debt to the
pioneering work of Revd James Douglas. He was one of the first
antiquaries
to record, draw and publish his findings to a high standard in
Nenia Britannica: or, a sepulchral history of
Great Britain; from the earliest period to its general conversion
to
Christianity.
Douglas
began studying the past while serving in the army in the Corps of
Engineers. In 1779 he was engaged to supervise the reworking of
Chatham Lines, the earthworks that defended Chatham Docks in Kent.
During this work nearly a hundred ancient barrows were opened.
Douglas meticulously recorded and drew plans of each. He also
amassed a large collection that later entered the Ashmolean Museum
in Oxford.
After leaving
the army Douglas entered the Church and began to study the funeral
customs of the ancient Britons. Using his knowledge of geology, he
was able to apply the principles of
stratigraphy
to his excavations. He also used his expertise as a draughtsman and
etcher to prepare fine plates for the publication of his researches
in Nenia Britannica. The
book included the earliest known ground plans of scientifically
excavated barrows. Moreover, Douglas was the first to realise that
both his discoveries and those made by Bryan Faussett in Kent were
Anglo-Saxon. His book also records sites now lost for posterity.
Its high standards were not bettered until well into the twentieth
century. Sadly, his work was not properly appreciated until 1835,
when others again took up where he had left
off.