Joseph Anderson (antiquarian)

Joseph Anderson LLD HRSA (1832–1916) was a Scottish antiquarian who served as keeper of the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland from 1869 to 1913.

Anderson was born in Angus, the son of an agricultural labourer, grew up in St Vigeans and attended Arbroath Education Institution.

[2] V. Gordon Childe wrote that by 1886 Anderson "had sketched the essential outlines of Scottish prehistory in a comprehensive and scientific survey such as then existed in no other country".

[1] DV Clarke states that: "Anderson’s scholarship was, at its best, challenging and provocative, rivalling that of the finest European scholars of his day", but that "for many years a vibrant and influential figure in Scottish archaeology, in the end he became a poor reflection of once-innovative attitudes".

[1] Another was the advocate and judge David Anderson, Lord St Vigeans who served as Chairman of the Scottish Land Court from 1918 to 1934.