Andrew Wilson (classical archaeologist)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Ian Wilson is a British
classical archaeologist and director of the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Oxford
. Wilson's main research interests are the economy of the Roman world
, Greek
and Roman
water supply, and ancient technology
.
, and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
, where he studied Literae Humaniores
(Classics
) from 1987–1991. From 1991 to 1993 he worked as a computer consultant for the electronics firm Eurotherm
, before returning to Oxford
to study for his doctorate (1993–1997), a social and technological study on water management and usage in Roman North Africa, supervised by John Lloyd.
From 1996 to 2000 he was a Fellow by Examination in Classical Archaeology
at Magdalen College, Oxford
, and spend nine months at the British School at Rome
as a Rome Scholar in 1999 and 2000. In 2000 he became University Lecturer in Roman Archaeology at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Wolfson College
; and in 2004 was appointed Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire, and Fellow of All Souls College.
Wilson is currently Director of the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford, and Chairman of the Society for Libyan Studies, and is on the editorial and advisory boards of several periodicals: Ancient West and East; Facta: A journal of Roman Material Culture Studies; and Oxford Journal of Archaeology. With Alan Bowman, he directs the Oxford Roman Economy Project (OxREP).
Wilson's research marshals archaeological data to address historical questions about ancient society, technology and economy. He has co-directed excavations in Rome
, Euesperides (modern Benghazi
, Libya
), and Utica
, Tunisia
, and has participated in excavation and fieldwork projects in Thamusida
, Morocco
, on the Tunisian isle of Jerba, in the Libyan desert region Fazzan, Yeronisos on Cyprus
and Al-Andarin in Syria
. , he has published over ninety articles and reviews and is co-editor of the monograph series Oxford Studies in the Roman Economy for Oxford University Press
.
Selected articles and book chapters
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
classical archaeologist and director of the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. Wilson's main research interests are the economy of the Roman world
Roman economy
The history of the Roman economy covers the period of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire.Recent research has led to a positive reevaluation of the size and sophistication of the Roman economy within the constraints generally imposed on agricultural societies in the preindustrial age.- Gross...
, Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
water supply, and ancient technology
Ancient technology
During the growth of the ancient civilizations, ancient technology was the result from advances in engineering in ancient times. These advances in the history of technology stimulated societies to adopt new ways of living and governance....
.
Life
Wilson was educated at the Perse School, CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
, where he studied Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...
(Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
) from 1987–1991. From 1991 to 1993 he worked as a computer consultant for the electronics firm Eurotherm
Eurotherm
Eurotherm is a worldwide supplier of Control and Measurement Instrumentation to Industrial and Process Markets. They are part of Invensys plc, a leading global automation and controls company...
, before returning to Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
to study for his doctorate (1993–1997), a social and technological study on water management and usage in Roman North Africa, supervised by John Lloyd.
From 1996 to 2000 he was a Fellow by Examination in Classical Archaeology
Classical archaeology
Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the great Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about in Latin and Greek texts...
at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, and spend nine months at the British School at Rome
British School at Rome
The British School at Rome was established in 1901 and granted a Royal Charter in 1912 as an educational institute in the fields of archaeology, literature, music, and history of Rome and Italy of every period, and for the study of the fine arts and architecture...
as a Rome Scholar in 1999 and 2000. In 2000 he became University Lecturer in Roman Archaeology at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Wolfson College
Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...
; and in 2004 was appointed Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire, and Fellow of All Souls College.
Wilson is currently Director of the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford, and Chairman of the Society for Libyan Studies, and is on the editorial and advisory boards of several periodicals: Ancient West and East; Facta: A journal of Roman Material Culture Studies; and Oxford Journal of Archaeology. With Alan Bowman, he directs the Oxford Roman Economy Project (OxREP).
Wilson's research marshals archaeological data to address historical questions about ancient society, technology and economy. He has co-directed excavations in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Euesperides (modern Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
), and Utica
Utica, Tunisia
Utica is an ancient city northwest of Carthage near the outflow of the Medjerda River into the Mediterranean Sea, traditionally considered to be the first colony founded by the Phoenicians in North Africa...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, and has participated in excavation and fieldwork projects in Thamusida
Thamusida
Thamusida is an ancient Roman river port in Morocco, near Kénitra and Mehdia.The site was excavated from 1913 by the French, then 1959 to 1962 and since 1998. Many items found in Thamusida are today on display at the Rabat Archaeological Museum. It occupies an area of fifteen acres. Excavations...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, on the Tunisian isle of Jerba, in the Libyan desert region Fazzan, Yeronisos on Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
and Al-Andarin in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. , he has published over ninety articles and reviews and is co-editor of the monograph series Oxford Studies in the Roman Economy for Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
.
Recent works
Books- Quantifying the Roman Economy: Methods and Problems, Oxford Studies in the Roman Economy, Vol. 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009 (co-editor), ISBN 978-0-19-956259-6
Selected articles and book chapters
- Urban Production in the Roman World: The View from North Africa, Papers of the British School at Rome, Vol. 70, 2002, pp. 231–273
- Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy, Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 92, 2002, pp. 1–32
- The Spread of Foggara-based Irrigation in the Ancient Sahara, in Mattingly, David JohnDavid Mattingly (author)David John Mattingly is an archaeologist and historian of the Roman world, who is currently a professor at the University of Leicester.- Biography :...
; McLaren, Sue; Savage, Elizabeth; al-Fasatwi, Y.; Gadgood, Khaled (eds.), The Libyan Desert: Natural Resources and Cultural Heritage, London: The Society for Libyan Studies, 2006, pp. 205–216, ISBN 978-1-900971-04-1 - The Economic Impact of Technological Advances in the Roman Construction Industry, in Lo Cascio, ElioElio Lo CascioElio Lo Cascio is an Italian historian, who teaches Roman History at the Sapienza University of Rome. Lo Cascio's main research interests are the institutional, administrative, social and economic history of Ancient Rome from the Republic to the Late Empire, and Roman population history.- Life :Lo...
(ed.), Innovazione tecnica e progresso economico nel mondo romano, Bari: Edipuglia, 2006, pp. 225–236, ISBN 978-88-7228-405-6 - The Metal Supply of the Roman Empire, in Papi, Emanuele (ed.), Supplying Rome and the Roman Empire, Journal of Roman Archaeology, supplement 69, 2007, pp. 109–125, ISBN 978-1-887829-69-4
- Hydraulic Engineering, in Oleson, John PeterJohn Peter OlesonJohn Peter Oleson is a Canadian classical archaeologist and historian of ancient technology. His main interests are the Roman Near East, maritime archaeology , and ancient technology, especially hydraulic technology, water-lifting devices, and Roman concrete construction.- Life :Born in 1946 in...
(ed.), Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 285–318, ISBN 978-0-19-518731-1 - Machines, in Oleson, John Peter (ed.), Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 337–366, ISBN 978-0-19-518731-1
- Large-scale Manufacturing, Standardization, and Trade, in Oleson, John Peter (ed.), Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 393–417, ISBN 978-0-19-518731-1
- Economy and Trade, in Bispham, Edward (ed.), The Short Oxford History of Europe, Vol. 2: Roman Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 170–202, ISBN 978-0-19-926601-2
- Villas, Horticulture and Irrigation Infrastructure in the Tiber Valley, in Coarelli, FilippoFilippo CoarelliFilippo Coarelli is an Italian archaeologist, Professor of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University of Perugia.Born in Rome, he is one of the foremost experts on Roman antiquities, a connoisseur of the history of early Rome, and a leading expert on the topography of ancient Rome...
; Patterson, Helen (eds.), Mercator Placidissimus: The Tiber Valley in Antiquity. New Research in the Upper and Middle River Valley, Proceedings of the Conference Held at the British School at Rome, 27–28 February 2004, Rome: Edizioni Quasar, 2009, pp. 731–768, ISBN 978-88-7140-368-7
External links
- Personal website at Oxford University — incl. publications in PDF format for download
- Website at the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford
- Oxford Roman Economy Project
- The Society for Libyan Studies