1720-1776

British clergyman and archaeologist who, in the last 20 years of his life, excavated hundreds of Anglo-Saxon burial mounds in his home county of Kent. Faussett was among the first archaeologists in Britain to mount a systematic program of fieldwork in pursuit of a specific goal: in this case a clear understanding of the mounds' origins and purpose. His methods, though hurried and clumsy by modern standards, laid the groundwork for later, more sophisticated excavations by others.