A Series of Egyptian objects found in foreign lands has been used to date archaeological groups in those lands, especially for periods the dating of which was unknown. In connexion with a study of Egyptian stone vessels I have taken occasion to examine the material reported from other lands, and it appears to me that some of the material used by scholars can be more accurately dated.

Most writers, ancient and modern, represent all Vikings as enemies of Christianity. It seems to be still believed that wherever they went, and at all periods, they sacked churches, massacred monks and nuns, and played havoc with civilization. That was certainly the view of politicians and chroniclers from Alfred to William the Conqueror. Even recent historians repeat the charge, sometimes with quite unnecessary emphasis.

In this article it is not proposed to whitewash the race in all respects—that would be impossible—but to bring forward certain scraps of evidence, not generally recollected, to set off against the too universal chorus of reprobation. In a word, there were such people as Christian Vikings; that is to say the immigrant Danes and Norse of that turbulent age, though always pirates on occasion, softened their manners as time went on, long before their general conversion to organized Christianity. Strange to say, some of the churches that are still with us owe their foundation to the Viking settlement in Britain.

In November 1954 the French Prehistoric Society celebrated its fiftieth jubilee with a séance solennelle extraordinaire in the cinema of the Musée de L'Homme in Paris. The séance was presided over by the Abbé Breuil, doyen of French if not of all European prehistorians, and attended by most French prehistoric archaeologists of importance. Guy Gaudron, the Secretary General of the Society, gave a brief history of the society's inception and development; the Abbé Breuil spoke on ‘La Perspective préhistorique et ses progrés’; messages of congratulation were sent to the Ćount Henri Begouen, who, with Gaudron, were made Honorary Presidents; messages were read from prehistorians and prehistoric organizations in other countries, and a small group of foreign representatives spoke in person—Sauter from Geneva, Kühn from Mainz, Frank Mitchell from Dublin, and Lacaille and myself from Great Britain.

An archaeological survey of the Thracian hinterland of Constantinople led by James Crow (Newcastle University) began in 1994 and its first stage is due for completion this year (2000). The main focus of the project over the past five years has been the Anastasian Wall, a 6th-century monumental linear fortification stretching some 56 km from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and situated c. 65 km from the city itself. In places the Wall survives up to 5 m high, but for the most part it lies obscured deep within the forests of central and northern Thrace, together with its associated forts, an outer ditch and a complement of massive towers.