Archaeologist of the Year 2015

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We are delighted to announce that Michael Fulford is the winner of this year’s prestigious Archaeologist of the Year award.

Professor Michael Fulford  has directed excavations at Silchester, a major Roman and Iron Age site in Hampshire, for almost 20 years. The project ended last summer, and has revealed a wealth of information about how the town evolved, and what life was like within its walls.

Mike-Fulford
Mike Fulford (right) accepts the award for Archaeologist of the Year 2015, alongside Amanda Clarke (centre), and Julian Richards (left), who presented the awards. Photo: Adam Stanford, Aerial-Cam.

Michael Fulford is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1994 (currently serving as its Treasurer), and was appointed CBE in the 2011 New Years Honours for Services to Scholarship. He was appointed a Commissioner of English Heritage last May and in that role chairs the English Heritage Advisory Committee. For the past 18 years he has directed the recently-concluded Silchester Town Life Project, and is also director of a five-year Leverhulme Trust-funded project on the Rural Settlement of Roman Britain.

Accepting the award, Michael Fulford said:

‘Thank you for this great award, and I would also like to thank all the students I have taught through Silchester and all the other projects, it is them who make us what we are today. I would also like to thank Amanda Clarke who has been a mainstay of Silchester for about a million years.

 

Below are all the nominees in this category:


Mike-FulfordMichael Fulford

Michael is Professor of Archaeology at  the University of Reading. He was elected  a Fellow of the British Academy in 1994  (currently serving as its Treasurer), is Vice-President of the Society for the Promotion  of Roman Studies, and was appointed  CBE in the 2011 New Year Honours for  Services to Scholarship. He was appointed  a Commissioner of English Heritage in  May this year, and in that role chairs the English Heritage Advisory  Committee. For the past 18 years, he has directed the Silchester  Town Life Project, which ended this summer after revealing a  wealth of information about the Roman town Calleva Atrebatum  in Hampshire. He is also directing a five-year Leverhulme Trust-funded  project on the Rural Settlement of Roman Britain.


Neil-HolbrookNeil Holbrook

Neil is Chief Executive of Cotswold  Archaeology, one of the UK’s largest  commercial units. He previously directed  excavations on Hadrian’s Wall for English  Heritage, before joining Exeter Museum to  work on Roman finds. Neil has published  numerous papers and reports, and is currently  writing up the results of an important  Roman cemetery excavation in Cirencester.  His is a visiting research fellow at the University of Reading, and  has worked for the last five years with Prof. Michael Fulford on  a major project examining how developer archaeology over the  last 25 years has changed understanding of Roman Britain. For 14  years, Neil regularly directed excavations on Time Team.

 


Simon-ThurleySimon Thurley

Simon is Chief Executive of English  Heritage, where he has championed  archaeology and secured a new future  for Stonehenge. Prior to that he directed  the Museum of London, opening of the  London Archaeological Archive and  Research Centre (LAARC) in 2002, and  from 1989-1997 was Curator of Historic  Royal Palaces. He has presented numerous  archaeological and historical television and radio programmes, and  written several important books. He will step down from English  Heritage after 12 years, when the organisation splits in two next year.