Stewart Ainsworth FSA, MCIfA (born 26 June 1951) is a British archaeological investigator who is regularly seen on ''

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 online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television pro ...

'' the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

archaeological 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 landscape ...

television series he joined in 1995. He has since appeared in over two hundred episodes. After reading, in his youth, a book about

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British people, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strate ...

, and visiting the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sepa ...

, he formed an interest in the history of landscapes. He trained as a surveyor before entering the archaeology section of the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

. He has worked on a number of archaeological sites in Britain and abroad. He joined the

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) was a government advisory body responsible for documenting buildings and monuments of archaeological, architectural and historical importance in England. It was established in 19 ...

(now part 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, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

) in 1985, and was its Landscape Investigation Team based in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

, England. He was affectionately called ''Time Teams "lumps and bumps" man by

Mick Aston Michael Antony Aston (1 July 1946 – 24 June 2013) was an English archaeologist who specialised in Early Medieval landscape archaeology. Over the course of his career, he lectured at both the University of Bristol and University of Oxford and ...

, and works with the team alongside his day job, travelling the country surveying, recording and investigating archaeological sites. Regarding ''Time Team'''s potential return, which was realised in 2022 after an eight-year hiatus, Ainsworth said: "Time Team has probably been one of the biggest things that has happened to archaeology for many years – to make archaeology and history accessible, and we need to keep that profile going whatever way we can." As of 2010, Ainsworth has been affiliated with the history and archaeology department at the

University of Chester , mottoeng = "He that teacheth, on teaching" , former_names = , established = (gained university status in 2005) , type = Public , endowment = £395,000 (2018) , budget = £118.3 million , chancellor = Gyles Brandreth , vice_chancell ...

, where he is a visiting professor. He is president of the Friends of Epiacum, also known as Whitley Castle, the Roman fort on the southern edge of Northumberland which he has surveyed and studied in depth.

References

External links

Imagine spending an entire weekend with Time Team's Stewart Ainsworth Learning How to Decode the Landscape
British archaeologists Living people 1951 births People from Morley, West Yorkshire Archaeologists appearing on Time Team Academics of the University of Chester People of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England {{UK-archaeologist-stub