Communicating Archaeology: Papers presented to Bill Putnam at a conference held at Bournemouth University in September 1995

Abstract

Bill Putnam was appointed Principal Lecturer in archaeology at Weymouth College, Dorset, UK, in 1967. The college subsequently became, via a series of changing designations which mirror the bewildering changes wrought in the British Higher Education sector over the last thirty years, part of Bournemouth University when it was established in 1992. He was influential in developing courses for teachers in archaeology in both the Certificate in Education and the BEd courses offered by Weymouth College and its successor institutions. He was intimately involved in providing training in practical archaeology to meet what was becoming a growing demand from hitherto unqualified archaeologists who were gaining employment in the various archaeological units in the UK. His Certificate in Practical Archaeology subsequently became the Higher National Diploma (HND) in Practical Archaeology which continues successfully under the auspices of Bournemouth University. He also developed a BSc Heritage Conservation and a BSc Archaeology in the early 1990s. Putnam therefore worked through and contributed to the main period of growth in the provision of archaeological training in the UK. He worked quietly and effectively both at a local and at a national level to ensure that archaeological training was improved and that the subject was promoted in the broader field of education. There are sixteen contributors to the fifteen essays in this volume, which is to some extent a festschrift on Putnam's retirement. The papers