Gordon Stirling Maxwell

Gordon S. Maxwell
Born(1938-03-21)21 March 1938
Died19 November 2024(2024-11-19) (aged 86)
OccupationArchaeologist
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of St Andrews
Academic work
DisciplineArchaeology
InstitutionsRCAHMS

Gordon S. Maxwell (21 March 1938 – 19 November 2024) was a Scottish archaeologist. He made a significant contribution to the study of Roman Scotland and was a 'pioneer in the development of aerial reconnaissance in archaeology'.[1]

Early life and education

Gordon Stirling Maxwell was born on 21 March 1938, the son of Alina (nee Smith) and Edward Maxwell.[2] He won a place to study at Daniel Stewart's College (now Stewart's Melville College) from where he went to the University of St Andrews to study classics.

Career

After graduation, Maxwell taught Classics at Madras College in St Andrews before being appointed as an archaeological investigator at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) in 1964.

At RCAHMS, Maxwell contributed to all seven volumes of the Survey of Argyll[3] as well as a volume on the Prehistoric and Roman Monuments of Lanarkshire.[4] He also edited two landscape survey volumes on Perthshire.[5]

Maxwell established the aerial survey programme at RCAHMS from 1976. In this work, he was able to make a number of significant discoveries of new sites from the air, some of which he subsequently excavated, including the Roman fort of Doune in Stirlingshire.[6] He discovered over a dozen Roman forts and fortlets, leading to a cartoon in The Times.[2] A volume of papers on aerial survey in Scotland was dedicated to him in 2005.[7]

Maxwell's primary research interests concerned the Roman army in Scotland, about which he published numerous papers in journals including the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Glasgow Archaeological Journal and Britannia. He co-authored the standard text on the Antonine Wall[8] as well as an overview of the Romans in Scotland[9] and a volume on the search for the Battle of Mons Graupius.[10] He was on the organising committee for the 12th International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies which took place in Stirling in 1979.[11]

Maxwell was editor of the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland from 1965–69 and was elected President of the Society from 1993-1996.[12] He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1998[13] and was appointed an Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews.[13]

Maxwell retired from RCAHMS in 1995 where he and his wife Kathleen continued to look after their garden at their home in Fife, which was regularly opened to the public through Scotland's Gardens Scheme[14] and once featured on BBC Scotland's The Beechgrove Garden.

Maxwell died in Fife on 19 November 2024.[15]

Selected publications

Maxwell, G S (1969) ‘Duns and forts: a note on some Iron Age monuments of the Atlantic province’, Scottish Archaeological Forum 1: 41–52.

Maxwell, G S (1969) ‘Excavations at Drumcarrow, Fife: an Iron Age unenclosed settlement’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 100, 1967–8 (1969): 100–8. doi:10.9750/PSAS.100.108

Maxwell, G S (1974) ‘Excavations at the Roman fort of Crawford, Lanarkshire’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 104, 1971–2 (1974): 147–200. doi:10.9750/PSAS.104.147.200

Maxwell, G S (1975) ‘Excavation at the Roman fort of Bothwellhaugh, Lanarkshire 1967–8’, Britannia 6: 20–35.

Maxwell, G S (1980) ‘Agricola’s campaigns: the evidence of the temporary camps’, Scottish Archaeological Forum 12: 25–54.

Hanson, W S & Maxwell, G S (1980) ‘An Agricolan Praesidium on the Forth–Clyde isthmus (Mollins, Strathclyde)’, Britannia 11: 43–9.

Maxwell, G S (ed) (1983) The Impact of Aerial Reconnaissance on Archaeology. London: CBA Research Report No. 49. ISBN 978-0-906780-24-4

Hanson, W S & Maxwell, G S (1983/1986) Rome’s North West Frontier: The Antonine Wall. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-85224-525-5

Maxwell, G S & Wilson, D R (1987) ‘Air reconnaissance in Roman Britain 1977–84’, Britannia 18: 1–48.

Maxwell, G S (1989) The Romans in Scotland. Edinburgh: James Thin. ISBN 978-0-901824-76-9

Maxwell, G S (1990) A Battle Lost: Romans and Caledonians at Mons Graupius. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-85224-615-3

Maxwell, G S (1998) A Gathering of Eagles: Scenes from Roman Scotland. Edinburgh: Canongate Books/Historic Scotland. ISBN 978-1-84158-384-6

Barclay, G J & Maxwell, G S (1998) The Cleaven Dyke and Littleour: Monuments in the Neolithic of Tayside. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph 13. ISBN 978-0-903903-13-4

References

  1. ^ Hanson, W.S. (2024). "Obituary. Gordon Stirling Maxwell MA FSA FRSE FSAScot". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 154: 1–8.
  2. ^ a b Times, The (2024-12-02). "Gordon Stirling Maxwell obituary: pioneering aerial archaeologist". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-10-30. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/gordon-stirling-maxwell-obituary-pioneering-aerial-archaeologist-9x22rkwzn
  3. ^ RCAHMS (1967–1992). Argyll. An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments, Volumes 1-7. Edinburgh: HMSO.
  4. ^ RCAHMS (1978). Lanarkshire. An Inventory of the Prehistoric and Roman Monuments (with the Twentieth Report of the Commission). Edinburgh: HMSO. ISBN 978-0114914783.
  5. ^ RCAHMS (1990) North-east Perth: An Archaeological Landscape. HMSO. ISBN 978-0114934460. RCAHMS (1994) South-east Perth: An Archaeological Landscape. HMSO. ISBN 978-0114941512
  6. ^ "Roman hospital found on site for new school Discovery of first-century remains said to be of national significance". The Herald. 1999-11-08. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  7. ^ Brophy, K and Cowley, D J (eds) From the air. Understanding aerial archaeology, Tempus, Stroud, ISBN 978-0752431307
  8. ^ Hanson, W S and Maxwell, G S (1986). Rome's north west frontier: The Antonine Wall (Revised ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0852244166.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Maxwell, Gordon S (1989). The Romans in Scotland. Edinburgh: James Thin, The Mercat Press. ISBN 9780901824769.
  10. ^ Maxwell, Gordon S (1990). A battle lost: Romans and Caledonians at Mons Graupius. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0852244906.
  11. ^ W.S. Hanson and L.J.F. Keppie (eds) (1980) Roman Frontier Studies 1979, BAR, Oxford. ISBN 978-1407392011
  12. ^ "Presidents: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland". Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
  13. ^ a b "Professor Gordon Maxwell". Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  14. ^ "Gardens: The creme de la creme of Fife's gardens go on display as part of the forthcoming Diamond Jubilee celebrations". 19 March 2012.
  15. ^ "Scotsman Obituaries: Gordon Maxwell, noted Scottish archaeologist and aerial photographer". The Scotsman. 2024-12-11. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
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