Charles Brian Montagu McBurney (18 June 1914 – 14 December 1979) was an American archaeologist who spent most of his working life in England.

Life and career

McBurney was born in Stockbridge,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, the son of Dorothy Lillian (Rundall) and Henry McBurney, and the grandson of Charles McBurney, the American surgeon (known to subsequent generations of surgeons for defining

McBurney's point McBurney's point is the name given to the point over the right side of the abdomen that is one-third of the distance from the anterior superior iliac spine to the umbilicus (navel). This is near the most common location of the appendix. Locatio ...

). His mother was English, the daughter and granddaughter of British Army officers; his father was an American engineer. He spent his childhood in the USA until he was eleven, then his parents took him to London, and then to Switzerland, and France. Young McBurney was home schooled. In 1933, he entered

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, reading French and German, and then

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 ...

and

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

. He studied archaeology under Miles Burkett and Dorothy Garrod who greatly influenced his career. Graduate studies were interrupted by war service in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR). But during World War II he was stationed in North Africa and undertook archaeological surveys in the Western Desert, finding numerous archaeological sites he would later excavate. He completed his PhD in 1948. His PhD dissertation was one of the first comparative studies of the late Middle Palaeolithic of Europe. In 1950, he became a British citizen. In 1952, he started as a lecturer in archaeology at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, and later Reader and finally Professor of Quaternary Prehistory at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His work included studies of the

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...

in Britain, important excavations at La Cotte de St Brelade in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

, an influential synthesis of the Palaeolithic of North Africa, extensive excavations in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

(at the Haua Fteah cave) and, in later years,

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

.Edited by G. N. Bailey, and Paul Callow.
Stone Age Prehistory: Studies in Memory of Charles McBurney.
' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. He also published on French prehistory, archaeological work in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

,McBurney, C. B. M. ''Early Man in the Soviet Union: The Implications of Some Recent Discoveries.'' London: Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1976. and on cave art. His continuing influence is felt in the work of his many pupils who include King Charles III. He was the father of the composer and writer Gerard McBurney and the actor and director Simon McBurney. McBurney&Bousman@LaCotte76

References

1914 births 1979 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Cambridge People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts 20th-century American archaeologists Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II {{US-archaeologist-stub