Philip A. Barker
{{short description|British archaeologist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
Philip Arthur Barker (22 August 1920 – 8 January 2001) was a British archaeologist who is best known for his work on excavation methodology.
Education
He left school with no qualifications and served in the RAF during the Second World War before he trained as a teacher. He taught Art at the Priory Grammar School for Boys, Shrewsbury and established an 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.{{citation |first=P. A. |last=Barker |year=1961 |title=Excavations on the Town Wall, Roushill, Shrewsbury |journal=Medieval Archaeology |volume=5 |pages=181–210 |doi=10.1080/00766097.1961.11735653 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-769-1/dissemination/pdf/vol05/5_181_210.pdf}} {{open access}}
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, where he organised a regular symposium on church archaeology and history.{{Cite journal |last=Guy |first=Chris |date=2023 |title=From Saxon graves to Gothic towers: 32 years in Cathedral Archaeology |journal=Worcestershire Recorder |volume=108 |pages=8–10}}
During the 1970s and the 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 a comprehensive guide to field archaeology, Techniques of Archaeological Excavation, in 1977, and it remains in print.{{cite book |last1=Barker |first1=Philip |title=Techniques of Archaeological Excavation |date=1993 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415151528 |edition=3rd}}
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.{{Cite journal|last=Higham|first=Bob|date=2001|title=In Memoriam: Philip Arthur Barker|url=http://www.castlestudiesgroup.org.uk/GSGJ15.pdf|journal=Castle Studies Group Newsletter|volume=15|pages=108}}
References
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Bibliography
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- Chris Musson and Charles Hill. "Philip Barker 1920–2001." Council for British Archaeology, Wales. {{Cite web |url=http://pages.britishlibrary.net/cba.wales/Newsletters/newsletter21/newsletter21.html |title=Online Information for Archaeology in Wales, Newsletter No. 21 |access-date=21 October 2006 |archive-date=7 November 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021107101837/http://pages.britishlibrary.net/cba.wales/Newsletters/newsletter21/newsletter21.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}, Spring 2001.
- {{Cite web |url=http://192.167.112.135/NewPages/SAMI/SEGNAL8.html |title=Philip Barker: An archaeologist inspired by art |access-date=13 February 2008 |archive-date=30 November 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011130220429/http://192.167.112.135/NewPages/SAMI/SEGNAL8.html |url-status=bot: unknown }} by Robert Higham.
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External links
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Category:English archaeologists