"Absence od evidence is not evidence of absence" (1969)

[Stephen Goranson]

W.F. Grimes, _The Excavation of Roman and Mediaeval London_, reviewed by A.R.
Burn, The Classical Review 19.2 (Jun. 1969) 321:

"....even while remembering the important fact that absence of evidence is not
identical with evidence of absence,...."

Prof. Kenneth Kitchen of Liverpool has been using the phrase for some years,
and may predate the above. A similar thought appears, e.g., in Kitchen's
_Ancient Orient and Old Testament_ (London, 1966) p. 31-32:
"It must always be remembered that such absence of evidence/ in these fields
of study too often merely reflects the large gaps in our present-day
knowledge."


Stephen Goranson