World Archaeology Festival: Passport to the Past

 

The Institute was founded as a result of Mortimer Wheeler’s wish for an archaeological training centre in Britain. Located in the heart of Bloomsbury, between the British Museum and the British Library, the Institute was officially opened in 1937 by Mortimer Wheeler and Tessa Verney Wheeler and became part of UCL in 1986. 

 

Among its early members of staff were some of the founding ancestors of archaeology in Britain. Foremost among these, apart from Wheeler himself, was Gordon Childe, director from 1946 to 1957. Additionally, Kathleen Kenyon, excavator of Jericho who was initially the secretary and then the Institute’s acting director during World War II. A few other iconic archaeologists include: Frederick Zeuner, one of the founders of quaternary studies and of zooarchaeology; Joan du Plat Taylor, the Institute’s librarian for many years, who was a founder of underwater archaeology; and Max Mallowan, Professor of Western Asiatic Archaeology (and second husband of Agatha Christie).

 

Initially the Institute was based at St John’s Lodge, Regent’s Park, but in 1958 it moved into purpose-built premises in Gordon Square, next to UCL in the heart of Bloomsbury, where it remains today. Although the Institute is proud of its founding ancestors it has never rested on its laurels and today is the largest Department of Archaeology in the UK, and one of the largest in the world.

 

The Institute today a world-renowned hub in the field of archaeology with an outstanding library, laboratories and archaeological collections. The Institute is committed to making new discoveries about the human past as widely accessible as possible by engaging with the public in events such as the World Archaeology Festival.