Rhind Lectures
Rhind Lectures are a series of lectures on ‘some branch of archaeology, ethnology, ethnography, or allied topic’ in order ‘to assist in the general advancement of knowledge’. They have been hosted by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland since 1876. The content of the lectures is usually published in journals or expanded into new works by their authors.
The name commemorates Alexander Henry Rhind, whose bequest to the society funded this lectureship. Rhind directed that his estate be used for this purpose, once the interests of living parties were extinguished, which took place 11 years after his death in 1863. The speaker and subject are selected some three years in advance, allowing the speaker to give a detailed exposition of a topic in their area of expertise.
The Rhind Lectures have continued into the 21st century, and since 2009 the society has published a video file that is freely available to the public.
Lecturers 1876–2008
The total number of lectures in the series in 2012 was 133. The following is a list of all lecturers to 2012, with the title of their lectures where known.| No. | Year | Title | Lecturer |
| 1 | 1874/76 | The past in the Present | Arthur Mitchell, MD, LLD |
| 2 | 1876/78 | The past in the Present | Arthur Mitchell, MD., LLD |
| 3 | 1879 | Scotland in Early Christian Times | Joseph Anderson |
| 4 | 1880 | Scotland in Early Christian Times | Joseph Anderson |
| 5 | 1881 | Scotland in Pagan Times: The Iron Age | Joseph Anderson |
| 6 | 1882 | Scotland in Pagan Times: The Bronze and Stone Ages | Joseph Anderson |
| 7 | 1883 | The Roman Occupation of Britain | Rev J Collingwood Bruce, LLD, FSA |
| 8 | 1884 | Ogham inscriptions in Ireland and Scotland | Sir Samuel Ferguson, QC., LLD., President of the Royal Irish Academy |
| 9 | 1885 | Early Christian symbolism in Great Britain and Ireland | J Romilly Allen, CE |
| 10 | 1886 | Register of Privy Council of Scotland | David Masson, MA LLD., Professor of Rhetoric & English Literature, University of Edinburgh |
| 11 | 1887 | Greek Antiquities | Alexander Stuart Murray, LLD., Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, London |
| 12 | 1888 | The Lake Dwellings of Europe | Robert Munro, MA MD., Author of Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings |
| 13 | 1889 | Early Ethnology of the British Isles | John Rhys, MA, Professor of Celtic at Oxford |
| 14 | 1890 | Archaeological Aspects of Scottish Zoology | Professor J. Duns, DD., New College, Edinburgh |
| 15 | 1891 | The Anthropological History of Europe | John Beddoe, MD LLD FRS, Vice-President of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |
| 16 | 1892 | The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland | Joseph Anderson, LLD., Assistant Secretary and Keeper of the Scottish National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh |
| 17 | 1893 | The Place-names of Scotland | Sir Herbert Maxwell, 7th Baronet |
| 18 | 1894 | Early fortifications in Scotland | David Christison, MD |
| 19 | 1895 | The Origins of Celtic Art | Arthur Evans, MA., Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford |
| 20 | 1896 | Industrial arts of Scandinavia in pagan times | Dr Hans Hildebrand, Royal Antiquary of Sweden |
| 21 | 1897 | The Evidence for a Roman Occupation of North Britain | James MacDonald, LLD |
| 22 | 1898 | Heraldry | James Balfour Paul, Lyon King-of-Arms |
| 23 | 1899 | Architecture in Scotland | Thomas Ross |
24 1900 The Edwards in Scotland, 1296–1377
Joseph Bain, FSA Scot
25 1901 The Constitution, Organisation, and Law of the Mediaeval Church in Scotland
Bishop Dowden
26 1902 Castellated architecture of Scotland
Thomas Ross
27 1903 Scotland in the Time of Queen Mary
P Hume Brown, MA LLD., Fraser Professor of Ancient History and Palaeography in the University of Edinburgh
28 1904 Roman Scotland
George Macdonald, MA
29 1905 Roman Britain
Dr F Haverfield, MA LLD
30 1906 The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions
Professor Archibald Sayce
31 1907 Roman Britain
Dr F Haverfield, MA LLD
32 1908 The Roman Station at Newstead
Mr James Curle
33 1909 The Occupation and use of the land in Scotland in Early Times
Dr David Murray
34 1910 Art of the Period of the Teutonic Migrations
Professor Gerard Baldwin Brown
35 1911 The Records of Scotland
J Maitland Thomson, LLD
36 1912 The Early Chronicles relating to Scotland
Rt Hon Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., President of the Society
37 1913 Some aspects of Scottish Feudalism
Dr George Neilson
38 1913 The Development of writing and printing in Western Europe
Dr W K Dickson
39 1914 The Liturgy and Ceremonial of The Mediaeval Church in Scotland
Mr F C Eeles
40 1915 Medals of the Renaissance
Mr George Francis Hill, Keeper of Coins & Medals, British Museum
41 1916 Celtic Place-Names in Scotland
Professor W J Watson, LLD
42 1917 Arms and Armour
Mr Charles J. ffoulkes, Curator of the Royal Armouries, Tower of London
43 1918 The Prehistoric Monuments of Scotland
Mr A O Curle
44 1919 House Furnishing and Domestic Life in Scotland 1488–1688
Mr John Warrack
45 1920 Painting in the Roman Empire
Mrs Arthur Strong, British School at Rome
46 1921 Egyptian Science
Professor W M Flinders Petrie
47 1922 Monastic Building in Britain
Mr C R Peers
48 1923 The Civilisation of Greece in the Bronze Age
Dr H R Hall
49 1924 Early Races of Scotland
Professor Thomas H Bryce
50 1925 The Mediaeval Castle in Scotland
Mr W M Mackenzie, Secretary RCAHMS
51 1926 Italian Sculpture of the Renaissance
Mr Eric Maclagan, director, V & A Museum
52 1927 Roman Britain
Sir George Macdonald, KCB FBA LLD
53 1928 The Ancient Connections between Scotland and Norway
Professor A W Brøgger
54 1929 The History of the Brooch
Mr Reginald A Smith, BA FSA
55 1930 The Hittites
Professor Garstang
56 1931 Monastic Life and its influence on the Civilisation of Scotland
Mr George Gordon Coulton, Litt D DLitt LLD FBA
57 1932 The Megalithic Culture of Northern Europe
Dr C A Nordman, Helsingfors
58 1933 English Illumination from AD 700 to the end of the Fifteenth Century
Mr Eric G Millar, DLitt
59 1934 Augustan Civilisation in Western Europe
Mr Ian A Richmond
60 1935 Early Anglo Saxon Art and Archaeology
Mr E T Leeds, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum
61 1936 The Archaeology of the Iberian Peninsula
Professor P Bosch Gimpera
62 1937 Mediaeval Edinburgh
Dr C A Malcolm
63 1938 Excavations at Ras Shamra
Monsieur Claude Shaeffer
64 1939 Early Art of Scandinavia
Professor Haakon Shetelig
1940 Postponed
65 1941 The Province of Mar
Dr W Douglas Simpson
66 1942 Jurisdictions of Mediaeval Scotland
Dr W C Dickinson
67 1943 The Topography of Roman Scotland
Mr O G S Crawford, FSA
68 1944 The Development of Tribal Society in Scotland
Professor V G Childe, DLitt DSc FBA V-PSA
69 1945 The Scottish Burghs
Dr W Mackay Mackenzie
70 1946 Spring Scandinavian Art of the Post-Christian Pagan Period
Professor Haakon Shetelig
71 1946 Oct Castles and Cannon: A Study of Early Artillery Fortifications in England
Mr Bryan H St John O’Neil
1947 No lecture
72 1948 Early Christian Monuments in the Near East
Professor W M Calder, LLD
73 1949 First: The Mediaeval Stone Carver in Scotland
Mr James S Richardson, LLD
74 Second: Regional House-Styles: their origins and development: recent studies in South Wales
Sir Cyril Fox, DLitt FSA
75 1950 Periods of Highland Civilization
Miss I F Grant LLD
76 1951 Discipline of Field Archaeology
Professor R E Mortimer Wheeler
77 1952 Greek Sculpture: The Century after Pheidias
Mr Bernard Ashmole, MC MA BLitt FBA
78 1953 Architecture in Elizabethan England
Mr John Summerson, CBE FSA ARIBA
79 1954 The Laboratory in the service of Art and Archaeology
Dr H J Plenderleith
80 1955 A Survey of American Archaeology
Dr G H S Bushnell
81 1956 Classical inspiration in Medieval Art
Mr W F Oakenshott
1957 No lecture due to the death of Professor S P O’Riordain
82 1958 The Historical Local Institutions of Scotland
Professor G S Pryde of Glasgow
83 1959 The Role of Constantinople in Byzantine Art
Professor D Talbot Rice
84 1960 Roman Imperial Art
Mr J B Ward Perkins, Director of The British School at Rome
85 1961 The Origins of the Late Celtic Art
Professor Haseloff of Würzburg
86 1962 March Mounds of the Middle East: their formation and excavation
Mr Seton Lloyd, CBE
87 Nov The Prehistoric Origins of Europe
Professor Stuart Piggott, BLitt DLitt HUM
88 1964 The Coins of the Ancient Celts
Mr D F Allen, BA FBA FSA
89 1965 March Anglo-Saxon Pottery and the Settlement of England
Mr J N L Myres, MA LLD FSA
90 Oct Cultural Structure and Movement in East Asia from the Neolithic Period to the Unification of China
Mr William Watson, MA
91 1966/67 Scottish Architects and English Architecture in the 18th Century
Dr PJ Murray
92 1967/68 Late Medieval Monumental Sculpture in the West Highlands
Dr K A Steer
93 1968/69 The Roman Frontier in Germany in the Light of New Research
Prof Dr Hans Schonberger
94 1969/70 The Furnishing of Medieval Churches in Scotland
The Rt Rev Monsigneur D McRoberts S.T.L.
95 1970/71 Plough and Field shape from Prehistoric Times to c1500 AD
Prof Axel Steensberg
96 1972/73 Byzantine Mosaic and Wall Paintings
D Winfield
97 1973/74 Aspects of Archaeology in Iran
D B Stronach
98 1974/75 Scottish Silversmiths and Their Work
Stuart Maxwell
99 1975/76 Interior Decoration in Great Britain
G Beard
100 1976/77 Pictish Art and Society
Dr I Henderson
101 1977/78 Pre-Roman Celtic Art
Prof O-H Frey
102 1978/79 The Medieval Cathedrals of Scotland
Dr R Cant
103 1979/80 The Course of Architecture in Ireland
Dr M Craig
104 1980/81 The Industrial Heritage
Prof S G E Lythe
105 1981/82 Pre-Roman and Native Settlement between the Tyne and Forth
Prof G Jobey
106 1982/83 Aspects of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in the Netherlands and Britain
Prof JD van der Waals
107 1983/84 The Danube Frontier of the Roman Empire
Prof J J Wilkes
1985/86
108 1986/87 Culture, Tradition and Artifact
Dr A Gailey
109 1987/88 The Archaeology of Death in Ancient Egypt
Dr A Rosalie Davie
110 1988/89 An Heroic Age: War and Society in Northern Britain AD 450–850
Prof Leslie Alcock
111 1989/90 The Archaeology of the Slavs
Dr Martin Gojda
112 1990/91 The Revival of Medieval and Early Renaissance Architecture in Scotland 1745–1930
Dr D M Walker
113 1991/92 Altering The Earth: The Origins of Monuments in Britain and Continental Europe
Prof R Bradley
114 1992/93 Scottish Monastic life on the Eve of the Reformation
Dr Mark Dilworth
115 1993/94 Oral Narrative in Scotland
Donald A MacDonald
116 1994/95 Enlarging the Past: the contribution of Wetland Archaeology
Professor John and Dr Bryony Coles
117 1995/96 Death and Wealth in Viking Scotland
Professor James Graham-Campbell
118 1996/97 The Food of the Scots Professor Alexander Fenton
119 1997/98 Scottish Royal Palaces: The Architecture of the Royal Residences during the Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Periods
John Dunbar
120 1998/99 The Origins of Insular Monasticism
Professor Charles Thomas
121 1999–2000 Significant Figures: Anderson, Baldwin-Brown, Childe, AO Curle, J Curle, A McBain, L Mann, WF Skene
Dr D J Breeze; Dr DV Clarke; Professor D Meek; Dr JNG Ritchie; Mr WDH Sellar
122 2000–2001 Art as Archaeology, Archaeology as Art: Transformations through material culture
Professor Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, University of Cambridge
123 2001–2002 Peoples Between The Oceans
Professor Barry Cunliffe, University of Oxford
124 2002–2003 Lines from the past: towards an anthropological archaeology of inscription
Professor Tim Ingold, University of Aberdeen
125 2003–2004 Court, Capital and Country: the Emergence of Renaissance Scotland
Professor Michael Lynch, University of Edinburgh
126 2004–2005 Men who turned towards the light: Cult and creativity in the Romans’ world
Professor Greg Woolf, University of St Andrews
127 2006 Rock and Cave Art
Paul Bahn
128 2007 Living in an Age of Stone: Neolithic people and their worlds
Professor Gabriel Cooney, University College Dublin
129 2008 Archaeology and the Sea in Scandinavia and Britain
Professor, Denmark