Institute of Archaeology

The Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of University College London (UCL), England. The Institute is located in a separate building at the north end of Gordon Square, Bloomsbury.

It was founded in 1937 by Mortimer Wheeler, who was its first director. He was followed by Kathleen Kenyon, Vere Gordon Childe, W. F. Grimes, John Davies Evans, David Harris and Peter Ucko. It was originally a separate institution within the University of London, but for financial reasons joined UCL in 1986. It is one of the largest departments of archaeology in the world, with over 80 members of academic staff and 500 students. Its academic strengths include general (world) archaeology and archaeological science, alongside museum, heritage and conservation studies. The Institute's current director is Stephen Shennan, who replaced Peter Ucko in September 2005.

Collections

The Institute's collections include prehistoric pottery and stone artefacts from many parts of the world, as well as collections of Roman pottery, coins and glass. Western Asiatic material includes the Petrie collection of Palestinian artefacts, collections from excavations at Jericho and a wide range of objects from ancient Mesopotamia. There are large reference collections for British and Near Eastern archaeobotany and zooarchaeology, as well as for world archaeometallurgy. There are also several historical archives of archaeological material including photographs, press cuttings, obituaries and oddments, and an extensive library.

The Institute is also responsible for the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology which is open to the public on a regular basis.

Publications

The Institute either sponsors or directly publishes several academic journals, monographic series and individual monographs, containing research findings and papers from archaeologists and postgraduates at the UCL and elsewhere.

"Archaeology International" is an annual reports journal issued by the Institute, containing summary papers of key findings by Institute researchers for the previous academic year, along with other details of UCL archaeology activities. Publication of this annual commenced in 1998, as a replacement for the Institute's former annual "Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology", published from 1958 to 1994. as of|2007 "Archaeology International" is edited by former director David Harris.

"Public Archaeology" is a journal sponsored by the Institute, launched in 2000 as an international peer-reviewed journal with a focus on the issues of cultural heritage, community archaeology and archaeological practice as it relates to wider civil and governmental concerns. Since inception the journal has been edited by Neal Ascherson. Issued quarterly, it was originally published by James & James Science Publishers until 2007, when the publishing rights were purchased by independent publisher Maney Publishing. [cite press release |date=2007, February 5 |title=Maney acquires Earthscan heritage list|url=http://www.maney.co.uk/press_earthscan|publisher=Maney Publishing|accessdate=2008-08-22]

"Papers from the Institute of Archaeology" is an annual journal established in 1989 by postgraduate researchers from UCL. Launched as a venue for the publication of research papers produced by UCL archaeology postgrads and staff on new findings and novel approaches to archaeological theory, it has since expanded its contributor base to researchers from other UK institutions and abroad.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology The Institute of Archaeology]
* [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ceacb AHRB Centre for Evolutionary Analysis of Cultural Behaviour at the Institute of Archaeology]
* [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/research/publication UCL Institute of Archaeology research publications]