Abstract :
This paper reviews the contribution of Professor Christopher Hawkes, FSA, to the development of
Bronze and Iron Age studies in the decades before and – more especially – after World War II. It
also provides an overview and analysis of the Hawkes Papers, kept in the Bodleian Library, and
particularly of the general correspondence section, with a view to assessing the potential of this
documentation for the study of the development of British prehistoric archaeology within its
European context. Examination of the first thirty-one boxes of the archive situates Hawkes at
the interface between several networks of individuals and communities of interest, including
amateurs, professional archaeologists and his own students.