Alison Betts
{{short description|British archaeologist and academic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox academic
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| name = Alison Betts
| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|FSA|FAHA|size=100%}}
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| birth_place = Scotland
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| nationality = Scottish
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| title = Professor of Silk Road Studies
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| discipline = archaeology and prehistory
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| alma_mater = Institute of Archaeology, University of London
| thesis_title = The prehistory of the basalt desert, Transjordan: an analysis
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| thesis_year =1986
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| workplaces = University of Edinburgh
Queen's University Belfast
University of Sydney
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Alison Venetia Graham Betts {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|FSA|FAHA|size=100%|sep=}} is a Scottish archaeologist and academic, who specialises in the "archaeology of the lands along the Silk Roads" and the nomadic peoples of the Near East.{{cite web|title=Professor Alison Betts|url=http://sydney.edu.au/arts/archaeology/staff/profiles/alison.betts.php|website=Department of Archaeology|publisher=The University of Sydney|accessdate=25 October 2016}} Since 2012, she has been Professor of Silk Road Studies at the University of Sydney.{{cite web|title=Alison Betts|url=https://uk.linkedin.com/in/alison-betts-53bb7018|website=uk.linkedin.com|publisher=LinkedIn|accessdate=25 October 2016}}
Early life and education
Betts was born and raised in Scotland.{{cite web|last1=Webber|first1=Pauline|title=Access All Areas: Alison Betts|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/travel/access-all-areas-alison-betts/story-e6frg8rf-1225849875443|website=theaustralian.com.au|publisher=The Australian|accessdate=25 October 2016|date=10 April 2010}} She is the daughter of Ursula Graham Bower, an anthropologist, and Frederick Nicholson Betts, an army officer and ornithologist, and has a sister, Catriona. She studied at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, a Master of Arts (MA) degree, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree. Her doctoral thesis was submitted in 1986 and was titled "The prehistory of the basalt desert, Transjordan: an analysis".{{cite thesis|last1=Betts|first1=Alison Venetia Graham|title=The prehistory of the basalt desert, Transjordan: an analysis|url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.338163|website=E-Thesis Online Service|publisher=The British Library|accessdate=25 October 2016|date=1986|type=Ph.D}}
Academic career
In 1986, Betts joined the University of Edinburgh as a British Academy teaching fellow. In 1989, she moved to the Queen's University, Belfast, where she worked as a research fellow. In 1991, she was appointed a lecturer in Levantine archaeology at the University of Sydney. By 2010, she had been promoted to senior lecturer. In 2012, she was appointed Professor of Silk Road Studies.
Betts has excavated in the Near East and in Central Asia, including directing excavations in Eastern Jordan, in Uzbekistan, and in Xinjiang, China. Her research is mainly focused on the Bronze Age, archaeology of the Levant, archaeology of the Silk Roads, and nomadic pastoralism of the Near East.
In August 2016, Betts gave that year's Petrie Oration on "Kingship and the Gods in Ancient Khorezm: new light on the early history of Zoroastrianism";{{cite web|title=2016 Petrie Oration|url=http://www.aiarch.org.au/petrieoration-cmu9|website=aiarch.org.au|publisher=Australian Institute of Archaeology|accessdate=25 October 2016|date=25 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026003320/http://www.aiarch.org.au/petrieoration-cmu9|archive-date=26 October 2016|url-status=dead}} the Petrie Oration is an "annual public lecture sponsored by the Australian Institute of Archaeology on ancient world archaeology".{{cite web|title=Petrie Oration|url=http://www.aiarch.org.au/petrieoration-c5zw|website=aiarch.org.au|publisher=Australian Institute of Archaeology|accessdate=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026002214/http://www.aiarch.org.au/petrieoration-c5zw|archive-date=26 October 2016|url-status=dead}}
Honours
In 2010, Betts was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA), the top learned academy in Australia for the humanities.{{cite web|title=Betts, Alison, FAHA|url=http://www.humanities.org.au/Fellowship/FindFellows/tabid/123/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1557/Betts-Alison.aspx|website=humanities.org.au|publisher=Australian Academy of the Humanities|accessdate=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026000229/http://www.humanities.org.au/Fellowship/FindFellows/tabid/123/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1557/Betts-Alison.aspx|archive-date=26 October 2016|url-status=dead}} On 13 October 2016, she was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA).{{cite web|title=13 Oct Ballot Results|url=https://www.sal.org.uk/news/2016/10/13-oct-ballot-results/|website=sal.org.uk|publisher=Society of Antiquaries of London|accessdate=25 October 2016|date=13 October 2016|archive-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025234848/https://www.sal.org.uk/news/2016/10/13-oct-ballot-results/|url-status=dead}}
Selected works
- {{cite book |last1=Khozhaniyazou |first1=G. |last2=Helms |first2=S. |last3=Betts |first3=A. |title=The military architecture of ancient Chorasmia |date=2006 |publisher=De Boccard |location=Paris |isbn=978-2701801964}}
- {{cite book |last1=Betts |first1=A. V. G. |last2=Cropper |first2=D. |last3=Martin |first3=L. |last4=McCartney |first4=C. |title=The Later Prehistory of the Badia: Excavations and Surveys in Eastern Jordan |date=2013 |publisher=Oxbow Books |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1842174739}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Betts |editor1-first=A. |editor2-last=Kidd |editor2-first=F. |title=Buddhist Iconography of Northern Bactria |date=2015 |publisher=Manohar Publications |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-9350980972}}
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:British women archaeologists
Category:Archaeologists of the Near East
Category:Scottish prehistorians
Category:Academic staff of the University of Sydney
Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Category:Alumni of the UCL Institute of Archaeology
Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Category:Academics of Queen's University Belfast
Category:Scottish women academics