Home Home
Search

Archaeology Collections

Find out more about the Archaeological Collections in the IHR Wohl Library. We collect reports and journals about medieval and modern archaeology and books on archaeological methodology. This page shows examples from the collections.

Search Catalogue
A hoard of iron age coins from Beverley - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_hoard_of_Iron_Age_coins_from_Beverly.jpg

Introduction

Works on archaeology can be found in a number of the library’s collections, ranging from books on the theory of archaeology and material culture, to reports on specific excavations sites, to a range of journals found physically in the library or accessible electronically from the library’s PCs.

The majority of works on archaeology can be found in the library’s British collections (General British: classmark B, English Local: classmark BC, Ireland: classmark BI, London: classmark BL, Scotland: classmark BS and Wales: classmark BW). Some works, however, can be found in the libraries European collections, including our French, German and Spanish collections.

Also, since the overall collection policy of the library concentrates on medieval history onwards, the great majority of archaeological works concentrate on the post-500 AD period. At the end of this guide, however, there is a list of other collections in London with significant library holdings on archaeology, covering all periods and geographic regions.

Highlights from the Collections

General Works

English Local

The English Local History collection is broken down into counties and other areas under the classmarks BC.5—9. The archaeological books within these sections can range from extensive records of the city of Bristol, providing data and detail to support archaeological inquiries into the city’s history, to the history of a particular castle, such as Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire. There are also many county specific archaeological journals, magazines, and collections held within the library.

For example:

London

The sections on the archaeology of London can be found under classmarks BL.41 and BL.525-7 which cover the archaeology of Greater London and Middlesex and the City of London respectively. Many of these are connected to or published by the Museum of London Archaeology Service, as either site reports or guides to excavations. The Library also holds an extensive collection of maps which depict the topography of the city of London at different stages of its history.

For example:

Ireland

Scottish Local

The Scottish collection contains several works relating to archaeology, in particular at a local level and for specific reports of excavations. The Scottish Burgh Survey series contains a number of volumes documenting specific towns with each volume outlining the geography and topography of the town, its known archaeology and history and its historic standing buildings. These can be found within the Scottish Local classification scheme under the classmark BSL.

For example:

Wales

Other European Areas

Online Resources

Please note that access to these resources is available onsite at the IHR, or offsite for staff and students of the IHR only. 

Periodicals

Other Collections

Within the IHR Wohl Library

Browse collection guides to find material relevant to your particular area of interest. Some other collections include

Other libraries, archives, organisations

Further Help

Contact us if you would like help on finding or using our collections, or if you have any comments or suggestions about the content of this guide. We are happy to help.

You can also book a tour or training session.

Related Content