Rhind Lectures are a series of lectures on archaeological topics. They have been hosted by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland since 1874. The content of the lectures is usually published in journals or expanded into new works by their authors.
The name commemorates Alexander Henry Rhind, whose bequest to the society funded this lectureship. Rhind directed that his estate be used for this purpose, once the interests of living parties were extinguished, which took place 11 years after his death in 1863.[1] The speaker and subject are selected some three years in advance, allowing the speaker to give a detailed exposition of a topic in their area of expertise.
The Rhind Lectures have continued into the 21st century, and since 2009 the society has published a video file that is freely available to the public.[2]
Lecturers 1874–2008
The total number of lectures in the series in 2012 was 133. The following is a list of all lecturers to 2012, with the title of their lectures where known.[3]
24 1900 The Edwards in Scotland, 1296–1377
Joseph Bain, FSA Scot[6]
25 1901 The Constitution, Organisation, and Law of the Mediaeval Church in ScotlandBishop Dowden
26 1902 Castellated architecture of ScotlandThomas Ross
27 1903 Scotland in the Time of Queen MaryP Hume Brown, MA LLD., Fraser Professor of Ancient (Scottish) History and Palaeography in the University of Edinburgh
118 1996/97 The Food of the Scots Professor Alexander Fenton[12]
119 1997/98 Scottish Royal Palaces: The Architecture of the Royal Residences during the Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Periods
John Dunbar
120 1998/99 The Origins of Insular Monasticism
Professor Charles Thomas
121 1999–2000 Significant Figures: Anderson, Baldwin-Brown, Childe, AO Curle, J Curle, A McBain, L Mann, WF Skene
Dr D J Breeze; Dr DV Clarke; Professor D Meek; Dr JNG Ritchie; Mr WDH Sellar
122 2000–2001 Art as Archaeology, Archaeology as Art: Transformations through material culture
Professor Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, University of Cambridge
123 2001–2002 Peoples Between The Oceans
Professor Barry Cunliffe, University of Oxford
124 2002–2003 Lines from the past: towards an anthropological archaeology of inscription
Professor Tim Ingold, University of Aberdeen
125 2003–2004 Court, Capital and Country: the Emergence of Renaissance Scotland
Professor Michael Lynch, University of Edinburgh
126 2004–2005 Men who turned towards the light: Cult and creativity in the Romans’ world
Professor Greg Woolf, University of St Andrews
128 2007 Living in an Age of Stone: Neolithic people and their worlds
Professor Gabriel Cooney, University College Dublin
129 2008 Archaeology and the Sea in Scandinavia and Britain[13]
Professor Ole Crumlin-Pedersen [da], Denmark
Lecturers 2009-
130 2009 New Light on the Dawn: a new perspective on the Neolithic Revolution in Southwest Asia Emeritus Professor Trevor Watkins, University of Edinburgh
131 2010 Design versus Dogma: Reflections on Field Archaeology[14]
Professor Martin Carver, University of York
132 2011 Material and spiritual engagements; Britain and Ireland in the first age of metal
Dr Stuart Needham
133 2012 On the windy edge of nothing: Vikings in the North Atlantic world – ecological and social journeys
Professor Kevin Edwards, University of Aberdeen
134 2013 ‘magnificent for the beauty and extent of its buildings and worthy of everlasting fame’ – the architecture of the Scottish late medieval Church
Professor Richard Fawcett, University of St Andrews
135 2014 Archaeology and Celtic Myth – an exploration[15]
Professor John Waddell, NUI Galway
136 2015 British Archaeology: its progress and demands
Various contributors including, Professor Audrey Horning, Queen’s University Belfast; Professor Ian Baxter, University Campus Suffolk; Dr Jacqui Mulville, Cardiff University; Margaret Maitland, National Museums Scotland; Dr Rebecca Jones, Historic Environment Scotland; Dr Alan Leslie, Northlight Heritage; Professor Mary Bownes, University of Edinburgh; Professor Keith Dobney, University of Aberdeen; Dr Greger Larson, University of Oxford; Dr Eva-Maria Geigl, CNRS University Paris 7; Professor Ian Barnes, Natural History Museum; and Professor Richard Bradley
137 2016 Antiquaries, archaeologists and the invention of the historic town c.1700–1860 Professor Roey Sweet, University of Leicester, Centre for Urban History
138 2017 Sacred Heritage: medieval monasticism, magic and memory
Professor Roberta Gilchrist, University of Reading
139 2018 Drystone technologies: Neolithic tensions and Iron Age compressions
Dr John Barber, AOC Archaeology Group
140 2019 Hadrian’s Wall: A Study in Archaeological Exploration and Interpretation[16]
Professor David J. Breeze
141 2020 Neolithic Scotland: the Big Picture and Detailed Narratives in 2020[17]
Dr Alison Sheridan
145 2024 Two ‘little’ ice ages and an anomaly: climate, environment and cultural change in medieval and early modern Scotland[21]
Professor Richard Oram
^"The Rhind Lectures". Society's Website. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
^"List of 133 Lecturers". The Rhind Lectures. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
^A greatly expanded version was published in 2007 by John Donald, Edinburgh, as vol. 5 of ''Scottish Life and Society: a compendium of Scottish ethnology
