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Rupert Bruce Mitford

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Nationality
  
English

Children
  
one son, two daughters

Occupation
  
Archaeologist

Rupert Bruce-Mitford httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen114Rup

Born
  
14 June 1914
Streatham, London, England

Spouse(s)
  
Kathleen Dent (m.1941–1972), Marilyn Luscombe (m.1975–1984), Margaret Adams (m.1988–1994)

Parent(s)
  
C. E. Bruce-Mitford and Beatrice Allison

Died
  
1994, Oxford, United Kingdom

Books
  
Sutton Hoo ship-burial

Rupert Leo Scott Bruce-Mitford (surname sometimes: "Mitford") (1914 in Streatham (London), UK – 1994 in Oxford) was a British archaeologist best known for his multi-volume publication on the Sutton Hoo ship burial.

Contents

Throughout his professional career, Rupert was also a noted academic, originally attending Hertford College at Oxford University as Baring Scholar and then continuing his academic work throughout his life as Slade Professor of Fine Art, Cambridge University 1978-79; Visiting Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford 1978-79; Professorial Fellow, Emmanuel College, Cambridge 1978-79

Bruce-Mitford worked for the British Museum, London, in the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities from 1938, and, following the bequest of the Sutton Hoo Treasure to the nation in 1942, he was charged with leading the project to study and publish the finds. This he did through four decades at the British Museum. He also became President of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Apart from military service in World War II he worked at the British Museum continuously until 1977, including two keeperships, and finally as a research keeper.

Apart from his work with the British Museum and as an academic, Bruce-Mitford also held the titles Secretary, Society of Antiquaries 1950-54, Vice-President 1972-76 then President, Society for Medieval Archaeology 1957-59; FBA 1976;

He was also responsible for translating Danish archaeologist P.V. Glob's book The Bog People (1965) into English.

In the 1950s, Bruce-Mitford was invited to join the panel (alongside Professor Glyn Daniel and Sir Mortimer Wheeler) of the celebrated television show Animal, Vegetable or Mineral. The first programme of its kind to introduce archaeology to a wide public audience, it was produced by a youthful David Attenborough who, in 1966, when Controller of BBC2, commissioned The Million Pound Grave, and a sequel, about the excavations at Sutton Hoo.

Personal life

He was married three times and had three children by his first wife, Kathleen Dent.

Books

  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1947). The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial: A Provisional Guide. London: Trustees of the British Museum. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1974a). Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology: Sutton Hoo and Other Discoveries. London: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-01704-X. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1975). The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial, Volume 1: Excavations, Background, the Ship, Dating and Inventory. London: British Museum Publications. ISBN 0-7141-1334-4. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1978). The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial, Volume 2: Arms, Armour and Regalia. London: British Museum Publications. ISBN 9780714113319. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1983a). The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial, Volume 3: Late Roman and Byzantine silver, hanging-bowls, drinking vessels, cauldrons and other containers, textiles, the lyre, pottery bottle and other items. I. London: British Museum Publications. ISBN 0-7141-0529-5. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1983b). The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial, Volume 3: Late Roman and Byzantine silver, hanging-bowls, drinking vessels, cauldrons and other containers, textiles, the lyre, pottery bottle and other items. II. London: British Museum Publications. ISBN 0-7141-0530-9. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (2005). Taylor, Robin J., ed. The Corpus of Late Celtic Hanging-Bowls with An Account of the Bowls Found in Scandinavia (PDF). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-813410-7. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert & Raven, Sheila (1997). Mawgan Porth: A settlement of the late Saxon period on the north Cornish coast: Excavations 1949–52, 1954 and 1974. London: English Heritage. ISBN 978-1-848-02186-0. 
  • Glob, P. V. (1969). The Bog People: Iron Age man preserved. Translated by Bruce-Mitford, Rupert. London: Faber and Faber. 

    • Articles

  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (June 1939). "Two Medieval Pottery Vessels". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XIII (2): 35–38. JSTOR 4422140. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1939). "The Archaeology of the Site of the Bodleian Extension in Broad Street, Oxford" (PDF). Oxoniensia. Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society. IV: 89–146. ISSN 0308-5562. 
  • Skinner, F. G. & Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (January 1940). "A Celtic Balance-beam of the Christian Period". The Antiquaries Journal. Society of Antiquaries of London. XX (1): 87–102. doi:10.1017/S0003581500045595. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (January 1940). "Medieval tripod pitchers". The Antiquaries Journal. Society of Antiquaries of London. XX (1): 103–112. doi:10.1017/S0003581500045613. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1940). "The Excavations at Seacourt, Berks, 1939: an interim report" (PDF). Oxoniensia. Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society. V: 31–41. ISSN 0308-5562. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (September 1946). "Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial". East Anglian Magazine. 6 (1): 2–9, 43. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert & Jope, E. M. (1940). "Eleventh and Twelfth Century Pottery from the Oxford Region" (PDF). Oxoniensia. Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society. V: 42–49. ISSN 0308-5562. 
  • Myres, J. N. L.; Hawkes, C. F. C.; Bruce-Mitford, Rupert; Hill, J. W. F. & Radford, C. A. Ralegh (1946). "The Archaeology of Lincolnshire and Lincoln: Anglian and Anglo-Danish Lincolnshire" (PDF). The Archaeological Journal. Royal Archaeological Institute. CIII: 85–101. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (May 1948). "Sutton Hoo and Sweden". The Archaeological News Letter. Linden Publicity. 1 (2): 5–7. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (October 1948). "Medieval Archaeology". The Archaeological News Letter. Linden Publicity. 1 (6): 1–4. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1948). "Saxon Rendlesham: Some preliminary considerations" (PDF). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology. Ipswich. XXIV (3): 228–251. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1949). "The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial: Recent theories and some comments on general interpretations" (PDF). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology. Ipswich. XXV (1): 1–78. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1950). "The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial". Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. XXXIV (3): 440–449. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (March 1950). "The Problem of the Sutton Hoo Cenotaph". The Archaeological News Letter. Linden Publicity. 2 (10): 166–169. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (4 March 1950). "The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial". Nature. Nature Publishing Group. CLXV (4192): 339–341. doi:10.1038/165339a0. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (April 1950). "The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial: A New Chapter in Anglo-Swedish Relations". The Anglo-Swedish Review. Swedish Chamber of Commerce: 69–72. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (April 1951). "The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial". Scientific American. 184 (4): 24–30. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0451-24. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1951). "Anglo-Saxon Suffolk" (PDF). The Archaeological Journal. Royal Archaeological Institute. CVIII: 132–133. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1952). "An Anglo-Saxon Gold Pendant from High Wycombe, Bucks". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XV: 72. JSTOR 4422266. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1952). "The Castle Eden Vase". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XV: 73. JSTOR 4422267. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1952). "A Late Saxon Disk-Brooch and Sword Pommel". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XV: 74–75. JSTOR 4422268. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1952). "Other Dark-Age Acquisitions". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XV: 75–76. JSTOR 4422269. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1952). "A Medieval Polychrome Pottery Aquamanile from Stonar, Kent". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XV: 80–81. JSTOR 4422275. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert; King, William (1952). "Medieval Pottery, Tiles, and Glass". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XV: 81–82. JSTOR 4422276. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (June 1952). "A Late-Saxon Silver Disk-Brooch from the Isle of Ely". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XVII (1): 15–16. JSTOR 4422367. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert; Allan, John (June 1952). "Sutton Hoo—a rejoinder". Antiquity. XXVI (102): 76–82. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00023619. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (December 1952). "The Fuller Brooch". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XVII (4): 75–76. JSTOR 4422395. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1952). "The Snape Boat-Grave" (PDF). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology. Ipswich. XXVI (1): 1–26. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1952–1953). "A Bronze Strap-end of c. A. D. 900 from Souldern, Oxon" (PDF). Oxoniensia. Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society. XVII-XVIII: 236. ISSN 0308-5562. 
  • Tonnochy, A. B.; Brailsford, J. W.; Bruce-Mitford, Rupert; King, William (June 1954). "British and Medieval Antiquities, 1753-1953". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XIX (1): 18–27. JSTOR 4422462. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (July 1957). "A Medieval Polychrome Jug from the City of London". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XXI (2): 54–55. JSTOR 4422573. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (December 1959). "The St Ninian's Isle Silver Hoard: Comments on the Bowls and Miscellaneous Silver, and General Conclusions". Antiquity. XXXIII (132): 257–268. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00027654. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1964). "Excavations at Sutton Hoo in 1938" (PDF). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology. Ipswich. XXX (1): 1–43. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (Summer 1965). "The Lindisfarne Gospels in the Middle Ages and Later". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XXIX (3–4): 98–100. JSTOR 4422900. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (4 November 1967). "Sutton Hoo Revisited". Archaeological Section No 2277. Illustrated London News (6692). London. pp. 26–27. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (March 1968). "Sutton Hoo Excavations, 1965–7". Antiquity. XLII (165): 36–39. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00033810. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (December 1968). "Fresh observations on the Torslunda Plates". Frühmittelalterliche Studien. Münster. 2: 233–236. doi:10.1515/9783110242027.233. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (March 1970). "The Sutton Hoo Lyre, Beowulf, and the Origins of the Frame Harp". Antiquity. XLIV (173): 7–13. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00040916. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (Spring 1971). "Envoi". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XXXV (1–4): 8–16. JSTOR 4423066. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (Autumn 1972). "The Sutton Hoo Helmet: A New Reconstruction". The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. XXXVI (3–4): 120–30. JSTOR 4423116. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (February 1973). "Sutton Hoo drinking horns". The British Museum Society Bulletin (12): 20. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1974b). "Exhibits at Ballots: 5. A replica of the Sutton Hoo helmet made in the Tower Armouries, 1973". The Antiquaries Journal. LIV (2): 285–286. doi:10.1017/S0003581500042529. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (February 1974c). "The Sutton Hoo helmet". The British Museum Society Bulletin (15): 6–7. 
  • Edited and republished in Bruce-Mitford 1974b, pp. 285–286
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1977). "Obituary: Basil Brown" (PDF). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology. Ipswich. XXXIV (1): 71. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1980). "Obituary: Leslie Dow, F.S.A" (PDF). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology. Ipswich. XXXIV (4): 287–288. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (December 1982). "The Sutton Hoo Helmet-Reconstruction and the Design of the Royal Harness and Sword-Belt: A Reply to Hofrat Dr. Ortwin Gamber with some additional comments on the Sutton Hoo Arms and Armour". The Journal of the Arms & Armour Society. London. X (6): 217–274. ISSN 0004-2439. 
  • Response to: Gamber, Ortwin (December 1982). "Some Notes on the Sutton Hoo Military Equipment". The Journal of the Arms & Armour Society. London. X (6): 208–216. ISSN 0004-2439. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1989a). "Early Thoughts on Sutton Hoo" (PDF). Saxon (10). 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1989b). Anglo-Saxon and Mediaeval Archaeology, History and Art, with special reference to Sutton Hoo: The highly important Working Library and Archive of more than 6,000 titles formed by Dr. Rupert L.S. Bruce-Mitford FBA, D.Litt., FSA. Wickmere: Merrion Book Co. 
  • Includes prefatory essays My Japanese Background and Forty Years with Sutton Hoo by Bruce-Mitford.

    • Chapters

  • Bruce-Mitford, Bruce (1952). "The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial". In Hodgkin, Robert Howard. A History of the Anglo-Saxons. II (3rd ed.). London: Oxford University Press. pp. 696–734, 750–756. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1956). "A Dark-Age Settlement at Mawgan Porth, Cornwall". In Bruce-Mitford, Rupert. Recent Archaeological Excavations in Britain: Selected Excavations 1939–1955 with a Chapter on Recent Air-Reconnaissance. New York: Macmillan. pp. 167–196. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1956). "A Note on the Law and Practice of Treasure Trove". In Bruce-Mitford, Rupert. Recent Archaeological Excavations in Britain: Selected Excavations 1939–1955 with a Chapter on Recent Air-Reconnaissance. New York: Macmillan. pp. 297–301. 
  • Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1970). "Preface". In Grohskopf, Bernice. The Treasure of Sutton Hoo. New York: Atheneum. pp. vii–x. 

    • References

    Rupert Bruce-Mitford Wikipedia
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