Ian Hodder was born in Bristol, England on November 23, 1948. He received a degree in prehistoric archaeology at the University of London in 1971 then went on to the University of Cambridge where he received his doctorate in spatial analysis in archaeology in 1974. He secured a position at the University of Leeds where he lectured from 1974-1977 then returned to Cambridge where he served in a number of positions before being appointed Professor of Archaeology from 1996 to 1999. In 1996 he was also named as a Fellow of the British Academy.
In 1999, he left Cambridge to accept an appointment at the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University where, in 2002, he was named Dunlevie Family Professor.
Senior Archaeologist, Museum of London Archaeology
Bruce Watson is a Senior Archaeologist working for the Museum of London. Over the last 28 years he has been involved with exploring many aspects of the capital’s buried heritage in advance of redevelopment.
The range of sites Watson has encountered across Greater London is vast. It covers all from the Palaeolithic through to the Post-Medieval periods. The numerous Roman, Saxon and Medieval sites examined in the City of London, Southwark and Westminster include burials, castles, churches, fortifications, houses and palaces. The results of the Museum of London’s archaeological work are publicly presented via the Museum of London Archaeology website, lectures, a wide range of publications and press-releases, plus the temporary and permanent and exhibitions within the Museum of London.
Watson is a leading authority in particular on the Saxo-Norman period in London. In an article for the Autumn 2009 edition of London Archaeology titled 'Saxo-Norman Southwark: A Review of the Archeological and Historical Evidence', he made one of the first attempts to create an overview of the nature of Southwark as a settlement in this period, and to map its spacial extent.
Greek archaeologist and first General Keeper of Antiquities
Kyriakos Pittakis dedicated his life to the preservation of Greek Antiquities.
His most important fait d'armes is very telling of his love for the story of his country: in 1821, when the Turks took control of the Acropolis and started taking it down to turn the lead clamps into bullets, he was among the Greek soldiers who chose to send bullets to the enemy rather than seeing the monument destroyed.
After preserving the Acropolis, he restored the Erechtheion, the temple on the North side of the Acropolis and the Lion Gate in Mycenae.
Despite being criticised for his lack of formal architectural or archaeological education, he was the first General Keeper of Antiquities.
Dr. Julie Anderson is assistant keeper at the British Museum for Ancient Egypt and Sudan.
She is co-director of the Berber-Abidiya archaeological project in Sudan. She is working with fellow co-director Dr. Salah eldin Mohamed Ahmed to excavate the site of Dangeil – which is threatened by development. It’s close to the fifth cataract.
Most of the finds that they’ve found so far are from the time of the Kingdom of Meroe (ca. 3rd century BC – 3rd century AD). However, at the end of 2008, they uncovered three statues that date to earlier times. One of them is that of Taharqa, a pharaoh of the 25th dynasty of Egypt who ruled during the 7th century BC. It’s the furthest south that any statue of a pharaoh has ever been found.
Submitted by Sean Williams on Fri, 12/18/2009 - 16:58
"The whole discovery of Tutankhamun needed both ingredients to make it work. It wasn't all Howard Carter, certainly not only Carnarvon. But it needed the two of them." George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon, ebbs deeper into the bond which drove two of archaeology's greatest characters to the biggest discovery of all time. But how did the two men, so different in background and expertise, even forge such a strong relationship?
