Erasmus success for prehistorian

Dr Andrew Sherratt, University Lecturer in Archaeology and Curator of Prehistory at the Ashmolean Museum, has discovered he is to receive a share of the renowned Erasmus Prize, after being nominated by the 1996 prizewinner. The Prize, awarded annually by the Dutch Praemium Erasmianum Foundation `for exceptionally important contributions to European culture', requires the winner to pass on his prize-money to chosen nominees. The winner, Professor William McNeill, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Chicago, nominated Dr Sherratt, a Fellow of Linacre College, and Professor Johan Goudsblom, Head of the Amsterdam School of Social Science Research, at the award ceremony in Amsterdam on 11 December. Dr Sherratt will use his share, some £50,000, to support his work on exploring the importance of cross-cultural contacts in patterns of social and economic change.