Archaeology Magazine - October 1973 - 68

Giovanni Becatti
The sudden death of Giovanni Becatti
on April 10, 1973 deprived Italy of one
of her foremost archaeologists.Born in
Siena in 1912,Becatti receivedhis doctorate in archaeologyin 1933 at the
University of Rome. From 1938 to
1954 he was active at the excavations
of Ostia, first (during Guido Calza's
great excavations, 1938-1942) as inspector,and later as director. He began
teaching at the University of Pisa in
1940 and then went to Milan and from
there to Florence, until he was called
to the chair of archaeologyin Rome
in 1964.
Becatti was an unusually productive
and many-sidedscholar. His volume on
Todi and on the ruins of Carsulae of
1938 (Forma Italiae, Regio VI Umbria,
volume I Tuder-Carsulae) revealed
early his specialtalent for topographical
research. He published in 1951 an
ample monographon Phidias (Problemi
Fidiaci) and, in the same year, his

important book on art and taste in
Latin writers, with an appendix of 337
passagesfrom written sources (Arte e
gusto negli scrittori latini). It was a
fitting introduction to his most outstanding work on Roman art and archaeology which developed from his
profound life-longinterest in Ostia and
culminated in four brilliant volumesof
the officialseries on the excavationsof
Ostia, Scavi di Ostia: volumeI (1953)
on the urbanistic evolution of the city;
II (1954) on the Mithraea of Ostia;
IV (1961) on the mosaics and pavements of Ostia, a standard work for
all future studies on mosaics in the
Roman Empire; and VI (1969) on the
spectacular find of a room decorated
with splendid opus sedile. It was the
logical consequenceof these contributions that Becatti became the editor-inchief of the Italian sectionof the Corpus
of ancient mosaicspublished under the
auspicesof the AssociationInternationale
pour l'Étude de la Mosaïque Antique,

in which severalvolumeshave appeared
since 1967. Becatti was singularlysuccessfulas a popularizerin the best sense
of the word. His most important book
of this genrewas translatedinto English:
The Art of Ancient Greece and Rome,
from the Rise of Greece to the Fall
of Rome, 1967 (published in Italian
in 1965). Together with R. Bianchi
Bandinelli,he wasin chargeof the monumental Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica
in sevenvolumes(Rome 1958-66).
Becatti visited the United States
twice: at the Institute for Advanced
Study in 1963-64and at the University
of Chicagoin 1969.He was a credit to
his calling and his nation, and his premature death is mourned by many,
but most of all by those who had the
privilege of knowinghim well.

The Whittlesey Foundation
The newlyfounded WhittleseyFoundation is devoted to the developmentof
aerial archaeology and related techniques in field archaeology. It grew
out of work in aerial and underwater
photography and photogrammetrybegun by Julian H. Whittleseyin 1964,
at two Turkish expeditions- Sardis and
Yassi Ada. Since that time Mr. Whittlesey has worked in Greece, Italy,
Spain, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, Tunisia,
England and the United States, and
requests for his help have increased to
such an extent that he can no longer
handle all of them himself.
The Foundationhas the followingdirectors: ChristopherAllen, Richard C.
Anderson,Bruce Bevan,R. Ross Holloway, Otis Imboden, Michael H. Jameson, WilliamA. McDonald, and Julian
H. Whittlesey.Each director has participated in one or more aspectsof aerial
photography.As a group, their inventiveness and practical experience in
field work has already lead to the developmentof new systemsand the improvement of accepted systems,among
which are the use of balloon, airfoil
and bipod systemsas well as the use of
a multi-bandcamera.A radio controlled
tethered unmanned hot-air balloon system has been successfullytested, and a
small, portable bipod camera support is
now being produced.

A summaryof the Foundation'spurposes are as follows: (1) To promote
research, design, developmentand use
of scientifictechniques and systemsin
field archaeologyfor search, recovery,
recording and mapping as well as interpretation of archaeologicalmaterial
by such means as aerial, terrestrial and
underwater photography, photogrammetry, photo-interpretation,spectral analysis, thermal scanning, sonar and related remote sensing techniques. (2)
To advise, assist and cooperate with
qualified institutions, both private and
public, including universities or their
departments,museumsand public agencies, in the practical application of
such systems and techniques to field
archaeology on legitimate, authorized,
non-profit operations undertaken for
scholarly purposes, be they concerned
with excavation,recovery,preservation,
restoration, survey or conservation of
archaeologicalmaterial. (3) To train
or assist in training of personnel of
such institutionsin the application and
operation of such techniques and systems. (4) To advise such institutions
on the design, developmentand duplication of such systemsor to undertake
operation of them on behalf of the institutions. (5) To collect,develop,publish and disseminateinformationto further the above purposes.
Information can be obtained from

the Whittlesey Foundation, Inc., 122
East 65 Street, New York, N.Y. 10021.

308

Herbert Bloch
Harvard University

Obituary
William B. Dins moor, an expert on
ancient Greek architecture, died in
Athens on July 2, 1973 of a stroke.
He was president of the Archaeological
Institute of Americafrom 1930to 1945,
and in 1970 received that Institute's
gold medal for distinguishedarchaeologicalachievement.
Born in Windham, New Hampshire,
ProfessorDinsmoor received a Bachelor's degree in Scienceat Harvard College in 1906. Thereafter he had a long
associationwith the American School
of Classical Studies in Athens, first as
a student and later as excavator and
restorer. From 1919 to 1963 he taught
at Columbia University. During the
Second World War he was chairman
of the Committeefor the Protectionof
Cultural Treasures in War Areas and
worked closelywith British and InterAllied commissionsfor the salvage of
artistic and historical monuments in
Europe.
Correction
In Archaeology ¿6 (197ó) 198, the
first letter of the article was accidently
left out; "trabo" should have been
"Strabo."

Archaeology Magazine - October 1973

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - October 1973