Jago Cooper
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Jago Cooper (born 1 June 1977) is 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 ...
. He is the Executive Director of the
Sainsbury Centre The Sainsbury Centre is an art gallery and museum located on the campus of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. The building, which contains a collection of world art, was one of the first major public buildings to be designed by ...
and professor of Art and Archaeology at the
University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
. Formerly, he was Curator of the Americas at 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 ...
whose career has focused on the archaeology of South America and the Caribbean, in particular the historic effects of
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
on island communities. Since 2011 he has written and presented a series of programmes for
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
, including ''Lost Kingdoms of South America'', ''Lost Kingdoms of Central America'', ''Easter Island: Mysteries of a Lost World'', ''Masters Of The Pacific Coast: The Tribes Of The American Northwest'', and ''The Inca: Masters of the Clouds''. He has also published books on world art and archaeology including,


Biography

Cooper attended
Bryanston School Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928 ...
in Dorset, and
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
(UCL) where he was awarded BA, MA and PhD qualifications in archaeology. After periods on the teaching staff at the
University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...
and UCL, Cooper joined 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 ...
's Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas in 2012. Cooper's archaeological work has focused on the
pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
archaeology of the Americas The archaeology of the Americas is the study of the archaeology of the Western Hemisphere, including North America (Mesoamerica), Central America, South America and the Caribbean. This includes the study of pre-historic/Pre-Columbian and histor ...
, including major projects at El Chorro de Maíta and Los Buchillones in Cuba. He specialises in studying the historic effects of
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
in Caribbean island societies, most recently through examination of the cavescapes of
Isla de Mona Mona ( es, Isla de Mona) is the third-largest island of the Puerto Rican archipelago, after the main island of Puerto Rico and Vieques. It is the largest of three islands in the Mona Passage, a strait between the Dominican Republic and Puerto R ...
off
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. In 2012 he released the book ''Surviving Sudden Environmental Change: Answers from Archaeology'' with Payson D. Sheets which was described as being one of the "outstanding examples of 'thinking big'. . . carefully researched, interdisciplinary, focused and informative" by Erika Guttmann-Bond in the Antiquity Journal. In 2009 Cooper co-presented the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
series '' Man on Earth'' with
Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentaries ...
and Joy Singarayer, and in 2011 wrote and presented the series ''Lost Kingdoms of South America'' for
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
, including four episodes exploring the
Chachapoya The Chachapoyas, also called the "Warriors of the Clouds", was a culture of the Andes living in the cloud forests of the southern part of the Department of Amazonas of present-day Peru. The Inca Empire conquered their civilization shortly bef ...
people, the city of
Tiwanaku Tiwanaku ( es, Tiahuanaco or ) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilo ...
, the legend of
El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
and the Kingdom of Chimor. A second series aired in September 2014 entitled ''Lost Kingdoms of Central America'' focusing on the
Olmec The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...
, Chiriquí (
Ngäbe The Ngäbe are an indigenous people within the territories of present-day Panama and Costa Rica in Central America. The Ngäbe mostly live within the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca in the Western Panamanian provinces of Veraguas, Chiriquí and Bocas del ...
) and
Taíno The Taíno were a historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the ...
people and the ancient Mexican city of
Teotihuacan Teotihuacan (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is ...
. In 2013 he filmed a one off-special for BBC 4 entitled ''Easter Island: Mysteries of a Lost World'' which re-examined the historic collapse in
Rapa Nui Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearly ...
society. January 2015 saw the broadcast of the two part series ''The Inca: Masters of the Clouds'', also on BBC 4.


Curated Exhibitions

* ''Peru: A Journey in Time''. 11 November 2021 - 20 February 2022, British Museum - Marking Peru's bicentennial year of independence, this exhibition highlighted the history, beliefs and cultural achievements of the different peoples who lived here from around 2500 BC to the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s, and their legacy in the centuries that followed. * ''Arctic: Culture and Climate''. 22 October 2020 - 21 February 2021, British Museum - "Developed in collaboration with Arctic communities, the exhibition celebrated the ingenuity and resilience of Arctic Peoples throughout history. It told the powerful story of respectful relationships with icy worlds and how Arctic Peoples have harnessed the weather and climate to thrive." * ''Where the Thunderbird Lives: Cultural Resilience on the Northwest Coast of North America''. 23 February - 27 August 2017, British Museum - "''Where the Thunderbird lives'' celebrated the cultural resilience of First Nation communities on the Northwest Coast of North America. The exhibition aimed to bring the story of communities with more than 10,000 years of cultural continuity to an international audience at the British Museum."


Books

* Cooper, J. & Sheets, P. (eds). 2012 ''Surviving Sudden Environmental Change: Answers from Archaeology''. University of Colorado Press, Boulder. * Lincoln, A, Cooper, J. & Loovers, J. P. L. 2020 ''Arctic: Culture and Climate''. Thames & Hudson SBN 978-05004-80663* Sunnucks, L. O. & Cooper, J. 2021 ''Mapping a New Museum.'' Routledge SBN 978-10004-12512* Pardo, C. & Cooper, J. (eds). 2021 ''Peru: a journey in time.'' British Museum Press, London, UK SBN 978-07141-24919ref>


References


External links


British Museum – Jago Cooper

Jago Cooper, British Museum
at
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Jago Alumni of the UCL Institute of Archaeology Employees of the British Museum English archaeologists Living people 1977 births People educated at Bryanston School Pacific archaeology