Geoffrey John Wainwright, (19 September 1937 – 6 March 2017) was a British archaeologist specialising in

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

. He was the Chief Archaeologist of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

from 1989 to 1999, and visiting professor to a number of universities. He served as President of the

Prehistoric Society The Prehistoric Society is an international learned society devoted to the study of the human past from the earliest times until the emergence of written history. Now based at University College London in the United Kingdom, it was founded by V. ...

from 1981 to 1985 and the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

from 2007 to 2010.

Early life and education

Wainwright was born on 19 September 1937 in

Angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two Ray (geometry), rays, called the ''Side (plane geometry), sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the ''vertex (geometry), vertex'' of the angle. Angles formed by two ...

, Pembrokeshire, Wales. He was educated at Pembroke Dock

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

. He studied archaeology at the

University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, and graduated with a first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1958. He undertook

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. By definition, the notion of “postgraduate” (United States) carries the implication that the candidate undertaking such ...

in "the Mesolithic cultures of south-west Wales" at the Institute of Archaeology,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, completing his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1961.

Career

From 1961 to 1963, Wainwright was professor of

environmental archaeology Environmental archaeology is a sub-field of archaeology which emerged in 1970s and is the science of reconstructing the relationships between past societies and the environments they lived in. The field represents an archaeological-palaeoecologica ...

at the

University of Baroda The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, in Gujarat state, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after the independence of ...

in India. He then joined the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments in what was to become

, serving as an inspector from 1963 to 1980, a principal inspector from 1980 to 1990, and as Chief Archaeologist from 1989 to 1999. He was a visiting professor at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

from 1991, and was a visiting professor at the

UCL Institute of Archaeology UCL's Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of the Social & Historical Sciences Faculty of University College London (UCL) which it joined in 1986 having previously been a school of the University of London. It is currently one o ...

from 1995 to 2005. Wainwright was involved in his first excavation as a university student: this was a

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

settlement at

Freshwater West Freshwater West (also known as ''Fresh West'') is a beach near Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire in West Wales. It lies along the B4319 road and is part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Freshwater West, noted for its strong waves and curren ...

, Pembrokeshire, Wales. In 1965, he excavated an entire

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

settlement in

Tollard Royal Tollard Royal is a village and civil parish on Cranborne Chase, Wiltshire, England. The parish is on Wiltshire's southern boundary with Dorset and the village is southeast of the Dorset town of Shaftesbury, on the B3081 road between Shaftesbury ...

, Wiltshire: unusually for the time, and with "consternation from traditional archaeologists", he used a JCB digger to clear the

topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic matt ...

. He used the same technique at more Iron Age sites and also at some late Neolithic

henges There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...

. In 1966, he excavated

Durrington Walls Durrington Walls is the site of a large Neolithic settlement and later henge enclosure located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in England. It lies north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington, just north of Amesbury in Wiltshir ...

, and he found two

timber circles In archaeology, timber circles are rings of upright wooden posts, built mainly by ancient peoples in the British Isles and North America. They survive only as gapped rings of post-holes, with no evidence they formed walls, making them distinct fro ...

. In 1972, he excavated the Iron Age settlement at

Gussage All Saints Gussage All Saints is a village and parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It nestles within the East Dorset administrative district of the county, about 8 miles north-east of the town of Blandford Forum. It is sited by the side of a ...

, Dorset.

Later life

In retirement, Wainwright lived in

Pontfaen Pontfaen (English: Bridge on the River Gwaun) is a small rural village and parish in the community of Cwm Gwaun, north Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is southeast of the port of Fishguard. History Pontfaen was in the ancient hundred of Cemais. Ear ...

, Pembrokeshire, Wales. He died at home on 6 March 2017, aged 79. His funeral was held on 20 March at the Parc Gwyn Crematorium in

Narberth, Pembrokeshire Narberth ( cy, Arberth) is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was founded around a Welsh court and later became a Norman stronghold on the Landsker Line. It became the headquarters of the hundred of Narberth. It was once ...

Personal life

Wainwright was first married to Sue Lukes and they had three children. Having divorced Sue, he married Judith Paton in 1977.

Honours

In the 1991

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, Wainwright was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in recognition of his services as Principal Inspector of Ancient Monuments for English Heritage. In 2006, he was awarded the

Grahame Clark Medal for Prehistoric Archaeology The Grahame Clark Medal is awarded by the British Academy every two years "for academic achievement involving recent contributions to the study of prehistoric archaeology". It was endowed in 1992 by Sir Grahame Clark, an eminent prehistorian and a ...

by the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

. On 2 March 1967, he was elected

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

(FSA). In 2011, he was elected

Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales The Learned Society of Wales (Welsh: Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru) is a learned society and charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the Welsh nation ...

(FLSW). He was also a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(FRSA).

Selected works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Geoffrey 1937 births 2017 deaths British archaeologists Prehistorians Members of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Pembrokeshire Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda faculty Recipients of the Grahame Clark Medal