Timothy Taylor (born 1960) is a British-based 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 ...

and

archaeological theory Archaeological theory refers to the various intellectual frameworks through which archaeologists interpret archaeological data. Archaeological theory functions as the application of philosophy of science to archaeology, and is occasionally referre ...

Work

Taylor was born in Norfolk and educated at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. His academic work began studying ornamental metalwork of the Balkans and western Asia. Since, his focus has shifted and he has done extensive work on the archaeology of

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

and

material culture Material culture is the aspect of social reality grounded in the objects and architecture that surround people. It includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms, and rituals that the objects creat ...

theory. He has also written several popular books on

archaeology 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 ...

. In the 1980s and 1990s he frequently presented his work on television. The British Archaeological Award winner for "best popular archaeology on television" 1991 was a "''Down to Earth''" episode on which he appeared. Taylor is known for his closely reasoned, wide-ranging, and provocative ideas, and for his ability to connect with a general audience of readers and viewers. Taylor is currently Jan Eisner Professor of Archaeology,

Comenius University Comenius University in Bratislava ( sk, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave) is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is name ...

in Bratislava. Until 2020 he was Professor of the Prehistory of Humanity at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

(Austria) and is editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of World Prehistory''.''Journal of World Prehistory''
(official website) Until 2012, he was a senior lecturer in

at the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

(UK).

Books

* ''The Prehistory of Sex: Four Million Years of Human Sexual Culture'' 1996,

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

– a

controversial Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite ...

book actually beginning eight million years in the past. * ''The Buried Soul: How Humans Invented Death'' 2004, Beacon – claims evidence for widespread prehistoric

vampirism A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

and

, and that ceremonial

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

predates social conceptions of an immortal soul. * ''The Artificial Ape: How Technology Changed the Course of Human Evolution'' 2010, Palgrave Macmillan

Notes

References

External links

Timothy Taylor on Edge

A page on Timothy's newer book at the Bradford University site
* British archaeologists Academics of the University of Bradford Living people 1960 births {{UK-writer-stub