Gordon Childe Notebooks

Gordon Childe's Skara Brae notebooks

Vere Gordon Childe (1892-1957) was an archaeologist, labour theorist and Marxist. He is widely regarded as the most distinguished European prehistorian of his time. He was Abercromby Professor of prehistoric archaeology at the University of Edinburgh (1927-1946) and Director of the Institute of Archaeology, University of London (1946-1956).
A prolific writer, Childe was a scholar of international perspective and his books, particularly The Dawn of European Civilization (1925), were highly influential.

Childe is also known for his 1928-1930 excavations at Skara Brae in the Orkneys - Europe's best-preserved Neolithic village. Childe destroyed his personal papers before his death, but his remaining academic papers, correspondence and notebooks were left to the Institute of Archaeology and now form the Childe Archive, held in UCL Special Collections.
More information is available on the Institute of Archaeology archives and the Childe Archive.

These notebooks relating to Skara Brae were conserved and digitised with the support of Historic Scotland.