Philip Arthur Barker (22 August 1920 – 8 January 2001) was a British archaeologist who is best known for his work on excavation methodology.

Education

He left school with no qualifications and served in the RAF during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

before he trained as a teacher. He taught Art at the Priory Grammar School for Boys, Shrewsbury and established an archaeological society at the school, which conducted a large number of excavations in the area, including a section of the town walls at Roushill in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

Career

His interest in archaeology led him to become an academic at 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 ...

. For many years, he was the archaeologist at

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and Blessed Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England cathedral in Worcester, England, Worcester, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Worcester and is the Mother Church# ...

, where he organised a regular symposium on church archaeology and history. During the 1970s and the 1980s, he worked to help establish

Rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, removal from danger, liberation from restraint, or the urgent treatment of injury, injuries after an incident. It may be facilitated by a range of tools and equipm ...

and the Institute of Field Archaeologists and undertook excavation work at Wroxeter and Hen Domen. He served as the chair of the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust from 1984 to 1991. He wrote a comprehensive guide to field archaeology, ''Techniques of Archaeological Excavation'', in 1977, and it remains in print. Barker specialised in castle studies and in 1987 was a founding member of the Castle Studies Group. The excavations at Hen Domen led to the publication of a book about the project and another about timber castles more broadly, jointly written with Robert Higham.

References

Bibliography

* Chris Musson and Charles Hill. "Philip Barker 1920–2001." Council for British Archaeology, Wales. , Spring 2001. * by Robert Higham.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Philip 1920 births 2001 deaths English archaeologists Castellologists Academics of the University of Birmingham Royal Air Force personnel of World War II