Geoffrey John Wainwright, (19 September 1937 – 6 March 2017) was a British archaeologist specialising in

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

. He was the Chief Archaeologist of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

from 1989 to 1999, and visiting professor to a number of universities. He served as president of the Prehistoric Society from 1981 to 1985 and the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

from 2007 to 2010.

Early life and education

Wainwright was born on 19 September 1937 in

Angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...

, Pembrokeshire, Wales. He was educated at Pembroke Dock

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

. He studied archaeology at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, and graduated with a first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1958. He undertook

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. The notion of "postgraduate" refers to studies following a undergraduate degree. Postgraduate research either occurs within ...

in "the Mesolithic cultures of south-west Wales" at the Institute of Archaeology,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, completing his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1961.

Career

From 1961 to 1963, Wainwright was professor of

environmental archaeology Environmental archaeology is a sub-field of archaeology which emerged in the 1970s and is the science of reconstructing the relationships between past societies and the environments they lived in. The field represents an archaeological-palaeoec ...

at the University of Baroda in India. He then joined the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments in what was to become

, serving as an inspector from 1963 to 1980, a principal inspector from 1980 to 1990, and as Chief Archaeologist from 1989 to 1999. He was a visiting professor at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

from 1991, and was a visiting professor at the UCL Institute of Archaeology from 1995 to 2005. Wainwright was involved in his first excavation as a university student: this was a

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

settlement at Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire, Wales. In 1965, he excavated an entire

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlement in Tollard Royal, Wiltshire: unusually for the time, and with "consternation from traditional archaeologists", he used a JCB digger to clear the

topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic mat ...

. He used the same technique at more Iron Age sites and also at some late Neolithic

henges A henge can be one of three related types of Neolithic Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches ...

. In 1966, he excavated Durrington Walls, and he found two timber circles. In 1972, he excavated the Iron Age settlement at Gussage All Saints, Dorset.

Later life

In retirement, Wainwright lived in Pontfaen, Pembrokeshire, Wales. He died at home on 6 March 2017, aged 79. His funeral was held on 20 March at the Parc Gwyn Crematorium in Narberth, Pembrokeshire.

Personal life

Wainwright was first married to Sue Lukes and they had three children. Having divorced Sue, he married Judith Paton in 1977.

Honours

In the 1991

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, Wainwright was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in recognition of his services as Principal Inspector of Ancient Monuments for English Heritage. In 2006, he was awarded the Grahame Clark Medal for Prehistoric Archaeology by the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies 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 sa ...

. On 2 March 1967, he was elected

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

(FSA). In 2011, he was elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW). He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

Selected works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Geoffrey 1937 births 2017 deaths British archaeologists Welsh prehistorians Members of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Pembrokeshire Academic staff of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda Recipients of the Grahame Clark Medal