Oxford professor Barry Cunliffe will deliver the 2008 GraceElizabeth Shallit Memorial Lecture at Brigham Young University on Monday, March17, at 3 p.m. in the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium.
Cunliffe’s address, “Who Were the Celts?” will explore the originsof the civilization. The Celtic people were recorded as being in Middle Europein 390 B.C. They appear often in classical literature, but their ancestors areunknown. Cunliffe will explore the current evidence and share his insights.
He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from theUniversity of Cambridge, focusing his studies on archaeology and anthropology.While completing his graduate degree at the University of Bristol, he became alecturer and was awarded professorship at the University of Southampton. Afterteaching for several years he accepted a position as professor of Europeanarchaeology at the University of Oxford, where he spent most of his career.
At Oxford, Professor Cunliffe received several awards,including fellowships from the Society of Antiquaries and the British Academy andhonorary degrees from other prestigious universities. He was most recentlyhonored with a knighthood, designating him as a Commander of the BritishEmpire.
His books have set the standard for academic publicationsfor modern British archaeology. His most famous work, Iron Age Communitiesin Britain, is now in its fourth edition.Some of Cunliffe’s more recent publications include The Ancient Celts, The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek, and The Celts: A Very Short Introduction.
His fieldwork consists of several prestigious projects,including the nature of exchange systems along the Atlantic sea-ways, theinvestigation the development of urban systems and complex societies in Iberiaand the excavation of Danebury in Hampshire, which spanned 35 years andrevolutionized the Iron Age and Romano-British studies.He is currentlyplanning an excavation on Brading Roman Villa on the Isle of Wight in theUnited Kingdom for 2008.
For more information, contact Evie Forsyth at (801) 422-6108.
Writer: David Luker
