Philip Arthur Rahtz (11 March 1921 – 2 June 2011) was a British

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

. Rahtz was born in Bristol. After leaving Bristol Grammar School, he became an accountant before serving with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. During war service, Rahtz became friends with the archaeologist Ernest Greenfield, the excavator of

Great Witcombe Roman Villa Great Witcombe Roman Villa was a villa built during the Roman occupation of Britain. It is located on a hillside at Great Witcombe, near Gloucester in the English county of Gloucestershire. It has been scheduled as an ancient monument. Backgroun ...

, Gloucestershire and Lullingstone Castle, Kent. This friendship sparked a personal interest in archaeology and a professional career, which began with excavations at

Chew Valley Lake Chew Valley Lake () is a reservoir in Chew Stoke, Chew Valley, Somerset, England. It is the fifth-largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom, with an area of . The lake, created in the early 1950s, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956. ...

(north Somerset) in 1953. A wide range of excavations in the area followed including Old Sarum in 1957, Glastonbury Tor in 1964–1966 and a

Romano-Celtic Temple A Romano-Celtic temple (more specifically a Romano-British temple in Great Britain, or Gallo-Roman temple in the Continental region formerly comprising Gaul) is a sub-class of Roman temple found in the north-western provinces of the Roman E ...

at Pagans Hill, Chew Stoke, from 1958. He also excavated at Bordesley Abbey, Worcestershire. Rahtz later ran summer school excavations for the University of Birmingham. He achieved his first permanent job as a lecturer at that university in 1963, and in 1978 he was appointed professor and first head of department at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

. In 2003 he was awarded the Frend Medal for his outstanding contribution to the archaeology of the early Christian Church. In February 2013, a one-day conference was held in Cheddar to celebrate his life and work in Somerset. Rahtz died in 2011 at age 90. He was married to his second wife, Lorna, with whom he had a son, Matthew. He had five other children from his first marriage: Gentian, Nicholas, Diana, David and

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

. The last-mentioned son worked in the digital humanities, including computer methods in archaeology.

Selected bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahtz, Philip 1921 births English archaeologists People educated at Bristol Grammar School Academics of the University of York Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 2011 deaths Scientists from Bristol Academics of the University of Birmingham Castellologists