author
John Garstang
1876–1956
A pioneering British archaeologist, he helped shape modern fieldwork while uncovering ancient sites across Egypt, Sudan, Anatolia, and the Levant. He is especially remembered for his excavations at Jericho and for building archaeology as a serious university discipline in Liverpool.
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About the author
Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, on 5 May 1876, he studied mathematics at Jesus College, Oxford before turning to archaeology. Early in his career he worked in Egypt with Flinders Petrie, and that hands-on experience led to a lifetime of excavation, teaching, and museum-building.
He founded the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Liverpool in 1904 and later served there as professor of archaeology for many years. His fieldwork ranged widely, including excavations in Egypt, Nubia, Asia Minor, and Palestine, and he became known for careful recording methods that helped archaeology move toward more systematic practice.
Garstang is often most closely linked with his work at Jericho in the 1930s, as well as with his wider contributions to the archaeology of the ancient Near East. He died on 12 September 1956, leaving behind not only important discoveries but also an institutional legacy that survives in Liverpool's Garstang Museum of Archaeology.