Philip A. Barker

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Philip Arthur Barker (22 August 1920 – 2001)[1] was a British archaeologist most famous for his work on excavation methodology.

Education[]

He left school with no qualifications and served in the RAF during the Second World War before training as a teacher. He taught Art at the Priory Grammar School for Boys, Shrewsbury and established a flourishing 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.[2]

Career[]

His interest in archaeology led him to become an academic at the University of Birmingham. For many years he was the archaeologist at Worcester Cathedral.

During the 1970s and 1980s he worked to help establish Rescue 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 the comprehensive guide to field archaeology, Techniques of Archaeological Excavation in 1977 and it remains in print.[3]

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.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ Date information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding WorldCat Identities linked authority file (LAF). Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
  2. ^ P. A. Barker (1961) Excavations on the Town Wall, Roushill, Shrewsbury, Medieval Archaeology, 5:1, 181-210, DOI: 10.1080/00766097.1961.11735653
  3. ^ Barker, Philip (1993). Techniques of Archaeological Excavation (3rd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0415151528.
  4. ^ Higham, Bob (2001). "In Memoriam: Philip Arthur Barker" (PDF). Castle Studies Group Newsletter. 15: 108.

Bibliography[]

External links[]

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