Carenza Rachel Lewis (born 30 November 1963) is a British academic

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and television presenter.

Early life

Lewis received her formal education at the private All Hallows Convent School in Norfolk. She studied archaeology and anthropology at Girton College, Cambridge.

Field and academic career

In 1985, she joined the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England as a field archaeologist for the

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

area. During part of her time with the Commission she was seconded to the History Department of the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

to research the relationship between settlement and landscape in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

. She followed this with a similar project in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. Lewis was elected a

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 ...

in 1998. In 1999, she was elected a visiting fellow of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

, where she was a Senior Research Associate and Affiliated Lecturer. In 2004, she took on a new post at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

to promote undergraduate archaeology, and created ''Access Cambridge Archaeology''. In 2015, Lewis was appointed to the Professorial Chair of 'Public Understanding of Research' at the

University of Lincoln The University of Lincoln is a public university, public research university in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, with origins dating back to 1861. It gained university status in 1992 and its present name in 2001. The main campus is in the hea ...

Television career

In the early 1990s she joined the team presenting the ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4, Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned in 2022 on online platforms YouTube and Patreon. Created by television produce ...

'' series, a new television programme designed to make archaeology accessible for the general public, which was first broadcast on Channel 4 Television in 1994. She appeared on the show from 1993 to 2005, appearing in each of the first twelve seasons. The ratings success of the series led to further television presenting commissions for Lewis, including the series ''House Detectives'' (1997–2002). In 2000, Lewis presented an episode of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's theoretical history programme entitled ''What If'', in which she examined the failed revolt of Queen Boudicca and the

Iceni The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were an ancient tribe of eastern Britain during the British Iron Age, Iron Age and early Roman Britain, Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the ar ...

against the Roman Empire in AD 60. She also devised and presented a series called ''Sacred Sites'' for HTV. In 2010, she appeared in the television series '' Michael Wood's Story of England''. In 2022, she rejoined the Time Team crew for its YouTube revival.

Personal life

Lewis has three children. In 2000, she appeared in national print media detailing her experiences as one of a number of victims of medical misdiagnosis at the hands of Dr

James Elwood James Stanley Elwood ( December 1921 – 13 December 2021) was a British pathologist who was responsible for 222 cancer misdiagnoses between 1995 and 2000. During the period concerned he was practising as a locum at four NHS trusts: the Princess ...

in the late 1990s.

Publications

* Aston, Mick and Lewis, Carenza (eds.) (1994) ''The Medieval Landscape of Wessex'' Oxford: Oxbow *Lewis, Carenza, Mitchell-Fox, Patrick and Dyer, Christopher (1997) ''Village, Hamlet and Field: Changing Medieval Settlements in Central England'' Manchester University Press *Lewis, Carenza, Harding, Phil and Aston, Mick (2000) ''Time Team's Timechester: a companion to archaeology''; ed. Tim Taylor London: Macmillan *Lewis, Carenza, Scott, Anna, Cruse, Anna, Nicholson, Raf, & Symonds, Dominic (2019) ''‘Our Lincolnshire’: exploring public engagement with heritage'' Summertown, Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. *Aberg, Alan and Lewis, Carenza (eds.) (2000) ''The Rising Tide: Archaeology and Coastal Landscapes'' Oxford: Oxbow

References

External links

Access Cambridge ArchaeologyCarenza Lewis's Home Page at the University of Lincoln
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Carenza 1963 births British archaeologists Academics of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Birmingham Living people Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Place of birth missing (living people) Archaeologists appearing on Time Team British women archaeologists Fellows of the Higher Education Academy People of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts