Clive Stephen Gamble, (born 1951) is a British archaeologist and anthropologist. He has been described as the "UK’s foremost archaeologist investigating our earliest ancestors."UK Government announcement of appointment
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Early life and education

Gamble was born in 1951. He was educated at

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

, a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in Brighton, England. He studied at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

(BA) degree in 1972: as per tradition, bi BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

(MA Cantab) degree in 1975. Remaining at Jesus College, he studied for a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree which he completed in 1978. His

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was titled "Animal Communities and their Relationship to Prehistoric Economies in Western Europe".

Academic career

From 1975 to 1979, Gamble was an experimental officer in

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 landsca ...

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 ...

. In 1979, he became a lecturer in

. He was promoted to

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in 1996. In 1999 he founded the Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins at Southampton. In 2004 Gamble was appointed to a Research Professorship in the Centre for Quaternary Research at

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

, in the

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 ...

. He subsequently returned to Southampton as a professor in the Department of Archaeology in 2011. In 2015 he was a Trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. He retired from Southampton in 2017 and was appointed an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Research and Positions

Gamble's main research interests are the archaeology of human origins, the social life of the earliest humans and the timing of their global colonisation.Southampton Dept of Archaeology biography
/ref> Gamble is a Trustee of the

(August 2010-August 2014), Fellow of 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 spa ...

, Fellow and Vice President of the Society of Antiquaries and Fellow and, from 2011 to 2014, President of the Royal Anthropological Institute. He received the

Rivers Memorial Medal The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...

from the Royal Anthropological Institute in 2005. In 2002 he presented ''Where Do We Come From?'', a six-part documentary screened on Channel Five. In 2000 his book ''The Palaeolithic Societies of Europe'' won the

Society for American Archaeology The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is a professional association for the archaeology of the Americas. It was founded in 1934 and its headquarters are in based in Washington, D.C. , it has 7,500 members. Its current president is Deborah L. ...

Book Award. Gamble is currently part of the NERC-sponsored team that is looking to date key evolutionary events in Europe over the last 60,000 years by dating deposits of volcanic ash. The events that the team is seeking to date includes the arrival of modern humans, the

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

extinction, and the post-

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

re-colonisation of northern Europe approximately 16,000 years ago by the direct ancestors of most modern Europeans. Gamble was a co-director on the British Academy Centenary project (2003-2010) ''Lucy to language: The archaeology of the social brain'' Gamble led a fieldwork programme in Greece, which recorded and published all the evidence from field surveys for Palaeolithic and Mesolithic settlement undertaken there in the last 50 years. This led to the publication of ''The Prehistoric Stones of Greece'' which provided the first overview of all stone tools discovered in Greece. There is no comparable overview elsewhere in Europe.

Honours

On 26 November 1981, Gamble was elected a

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 2000, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). He is also an elected Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute (FRAI).

Selected works

*Gamble, C. 2021 ''Making Deep History: Zeal, Perseverance, and the Time Revolution of 1859''. Oxford University Press. *Dunbar, R., Gamble, C. and Gowlett, J. 2014 ''Lucy to Language: The Benchmark Papers''. Oxford University Press. *Gamble, C. 2013 ''Settling the earth: the archaeology of deep human history''. Cambridge University Press. *Boismier, W. A., Gamble, C. and Coward, F. (eds.) 2012 ''Neanderthals among mammoths: excavations at Lynford Quarry, Norfolk UK'', English Heritage Monographs. *Dunbar, R., Gamble, C. and Gowlett, J. (eds.) 2010 ''Social brain, distributed mind'', Oxford University Press. Proceedings of the British Academy 158. *Gamble, C. S. 2007. ''Origins and revolutions: human identity in earliest prehistory''. Cambridge University Press. *Gamble, C. 2007 ''Archaeology: the basics''. 2nd edition. Routledge. *Gamble, C. S., and M. Porr. (eds.) 2005. ''The individual hominid in context: archaeological investigations of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic landscapes, locales and artefacts''. Routledge. *Gamble, C. 2003 ''Timewalkers: The Prehistory of Global Colonization''. The History Press. *Gamble, C. 1999 ''The Palaeolithic Societies of Europe''. Cambridge University Press. *Gamble, C. 1986 ''The Palaeolithic Settlement of Europe''. Cambridge University Press.

References

External links

Prehistoric Stones of Greece
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamble, Clive 1951 births Living people British anthropologists British archaeologists Trustees of the British Museum Academics of the University of Southampton Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Fellows of the British Academy Presidents of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland