Nicholas J. Saunders is a British academic archaeologist and anthropologist. He was educated at the universities of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

(BA Archaeology, 1979),

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 ...

(MPhil Social Anthropology, 1981), and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

(PhD Archaeology, 1991). He has held teaching and research positions at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the University of the West Indies, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C., and at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he was Reader in Material Culture, and undertook a major

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 ...

sponsored investigation into the material culture anthropology of the First World War (1998–2004). Saunders was Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, where he was responsible for the MA programmes in

historical archaeology Historical archaeology is a form of archaeology dealing with places, things, and issues from the past or present when written records and oral traditions can inform and contextualize cultural material. These records can both complement and conflict ...

and

conflict archaeology Conflict archaeology is a sub-discipline within archaeology focused on intergroup and intragroup conflict. Closely linked to battlefield archaeology and Military Sites Archaeology, conflict archaeology is developing as an umbrella sub-discipline t ...

. As of 2018, he is Emeritus Professor of Material Culture in that department. He is a prominent contributor to the nascent field of

, and has authored and edited numerous academic publications in the field. In addition to his research specialising in the anthropology of 20th-century conflicts and the archaeology of World War I theatres in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, Saunders has also conducted extensive fieldwork and research in

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, ...

and historical archaeology of

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. He has been involved with major museum exhibitions in London, Ypres (Belgium), Tübingen (Germany), and at the Centre Pompidou-Metz (France). Saunders has investigated and published on material cultures and landscapes of

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...

, South America, and the Caribbean. His most recent research has been on the aesthetics of brilliance and colour in indigenous Amerindian symbolism, an extensive survey investigation of the

Nazca Lines The Nazca Lines are a group of geoglyphs made in the soil of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. They were created between 500 BCE and 500 CE by people making depressions or shallow incisions in the desert floor, removing pebbles and l ...

in Peru, the anthropological archaeology of twentieth-century conflict (especially the First World War) and its legacies along the Soca (Isonzo) Front on the Slovenian-Italian border, and the conflict artworks of the Chinese Labour Corps on the Western Front during and after the First World War.

Major book publications

*'' Curating the Great War'', (ed.) (with P. Cornish) 2022: London: Routledge. *'' Feuilles de Poilus: Decorated leaves from the First World War'', (with D. Dendooven and Luc Volatier) 2022: Ieper: In Flanders Fields Museum. *'' Conflict Landscapes: Materiality and Meaning in Contested Places'', (ed.) (with P. Cornish) 2021. London: Routledge. *''Desert Insurgency: Archaeology, T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt''. 2020. Oxford: Oxford University Pres
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198722007.001.0001
*''Modern Conflict and the Senses'', (ed.) (with P. Cornish) 2017. London: Routledge.https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315682228 *''Bodies in Conflict: Corporeality, Materiality and Transformation'', (ed.) (with P. Cornish) 2014. London: Routledge
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315851846
*''The Poppy: From Ancient Egypt to Flanders Fields to Afghanistan'', 2013. London: Oneworld
https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2014.0239
*''Beyond the Dead Horizon: Studies in Modern Conflict Archaeology'', (ed.) 2012. Oxford: Oxbow
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh1dwsh
*''To Capture the Sun: Gold of Ancient Panama'', (with R.Cooke, J.Hoopes, and J.Quilter). 2012. Gilcrease Museum and University of Oklahoma Press. *''Contested Objects'', (ed.) (with P. Cornish). 2009. Abingdon, Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203873854 *''Images of Conflict'', (ed.) 2009. Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars. *''Killing Time: Archaeology and the First World War'', 2007. Stroud: Sutton. *''Alexander's Tomb'', 2006. New York: Basic. *''Peoples of the Caribbean'', 2005. San Diego: ABC-Clio. *''Trench Art: Lost Worlds of the Great War'', (with D. Dendooven) (2004). Ypres: In Flanders Fields Museum. *''Ancient Americas: The Great Civilizations'', 2004. Sutton. *''Matters of Conflict'' (ed.) 2004. Abingdon: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203502549 *''Trench Art: Materialities and Memories of War'', 2003. Oxford: Berg. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003087267 *''Icons of Power'' (ed.) 1998. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203383827 *''Astronomies and Cultures'' (ed.) (with C.Ruggles) 1993. Niwot: University Press of Colorado. *''Ancient America: Contributions to New World Archaeology'', (ed.) 1992. Oxford: Oxbow. *''People of the Jaguar'', 1989. London: Souvenir

Major article publications

*Forged in conflict: Francis Buckley, the First World War, and British Prehistory. 2020. ''International Journal of Historical Archaeology'' 7 Nov 2020 online, with S. Griffiths

*Zeitgeist archaeology: conflict, identity and ideology at Prague Castle, 1918–2018. 2019. ''Antiquity'' 93 (370):1009-1025
https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.107
*Traces of being: Interdisciplinary perspectives on First World War Conflict Landscapes. 2018. In, S.Daly, M.Salvante and V. Wilcox (eds.), ''Landscapes of the First World War'', pp 209–224
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89411-9_12
*Pearl's Treasure:The Trench Art Collection of an Australian Sapper. 2018. In, L. Slade (ed.), ''Sappers and Shrapnel:Contemporary Art and the Art of the Trenches'', pp 13–27. Adelaide:Art Gallery of South Australia. *Trench Art: Objects and people in conflict. In, J. Bourke (ed.), ''War and Art: A Visual History of Modern Conflict'', 2017, pp 209–215. London: Reaktion. *Materiality, space and distance in the First World War. In, N.J.Saunders and P. Cornish (eds.), ''Modern Conflict and the Senses'', 2017, pp 29–42. London: Routledge. *Bodies in trees: a matter of being in Great War landscapes. In, P. Cornish and N.J. Saunders (eds.), ''Bodies in Conflict: Corporeality, Materiality and Transformation'', 2014, 22–38. London: Routledge. *Travail et nostalgie sur le front de l’Ouest : l’Art des tranchées chinois et la Première guerre mondiale. In, Li Ma (ed.), ''Les travailleurs chinois en France dans la Première Guerre mondiale'', 2012, pp 435–451. Paris: CNRS. *Desert Labyrinth: Lines, Landscape and Meaning at Nazca, Peru. (with C. Ruggles). ''Antiquity'' 2012, Vol 86, pp 1126–1140
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00048298
*Fire on the Desert: Conflict Archaeology and the Great Arab Revolt in Southern Jordan 1916–1918. (with N. Faulkner). ''Antiquity'' 2010, Vol 84 (324), pp 514–527

*People in objects: Individuality and the quotidian in the material culture of war. In, C. White (ed.), ''The Materiality of Individuality'' 2009, pp 37–55. New York: Springer. *The Cosmic Earth: Materiality and Mineralogy in the Americas. In N. Boivin and M.A. Owoc (eds.), ''Soil, Stones and Symbols: Cultural Perceptions of the Mineral World'' 2004, pp 123–141. London: UCL Press. *'Catching the light': Technologies of power and enchantment in Pre-Columbian goldworking. In, J. Quilter and J.W. Hoopes (eds.), ''Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia'' 2003, pp 15–47. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks. *Crucifix, Calvary, and Cross: materiality and spirituality in Great War Landscapes. ''World Archaeology'' 2003, Vol 35 (1), pp 7–21
https://doi.org/10.1080/0043824032000078045
*Excavating memories: archaeology and the Great War, 1914–2001. ''Antiquity'' 2002, Vol 76 (291), pp 101–8. *A Dark Light: Reflections on Obsidian in Mesoamerica. ''World Archaeology'' 2001, Vol 33 (2), pp 220–236
https://doi.org/10.1080/00438240120079262
*Matter and memory in the landscapes of conflict: The Western Front 1914–1999. In, B. Bender and M. Winer (eds.), ''Contested Landscapes: Movement, Exile and Place'' 2001, pp 37–53. Oxford: Berg

*Bodies of metal, shells of memory: 'Trench Art' and the Great War Re-cycled. ''Journal of Material Culture'' 2000, Vol 5 (1), pp 43–67. *Biographies of brilliance: Pearls, transformations of matter and being, c. AD 1492. ''World Archaeology'' 1999, Vol 31 (2)pp 243–57

*Stealers of light, traders in brilliance: Amerindian metaphysics in the mirror of conquest. ''RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics'' 1998, Vol 33 (1): 225–52. *Zemís, trees and symbolic landscapes: three Taíno carvings from Jamaica. (with D.Gray). ''Antiquity'' 1996, Vol 70, No.270, pp 801–812

*Predators of culture: Jaguar symbolism and Mesoamerican Elites. ''World Archaeology'' 1994, Vol. 26:1, pp 104–117
https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1994.9980264

Notes

External links

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Faculty profile
University of Bristol Dept. of Archaeology & Anthropology

co-directed by Nicholas Saunders

Great Arab Revolt Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Nicholas J. British archaeologists British Mesoamericanists 20th-century Mesoamericanists 21st-century Mesoamericanists Mesoamerican archaeologists Alumni of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the University of Southampton Academics of the University of Bristol 1953 births Living people