Page "V. Gordon Childe" Paragraph 38

In the summer of 1956, Childe decided to retire from his position as Director at the Institute of Archaeology a year prematurely, and gave the impression to one good friend of his that he felt that his academic career should come to an end.

The archaeological discipline had rapidly expanded across Europe during the 1950s, leading to increasing specialisation of different areas and making the synthesising that Childe was known for increasingly difficult.

That year, the Institute was moving to a new building in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, and Childe wanted to give his successor, W. F.

Grimes, a fresh start as Director in the new surroundings.

To commemorate his achievements, the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society published a Festschrift edition on the last day of his Directorship that contained contributions from friends and colleagues from all over the world, something that touched Childe deeply.

Upon his retirement, he told many of his friends that he planned to return to Australia, visit his relatives, and then jump off a cliff, committing suicide.

The reason that he gave for this was that he was terrified of becoming old, senile, and a burden on society.

He had already noticed his body functions deteriorating, and suspected that he had cancer.