Archaeologist protecting Middle Eastern cultural heritage made British Academy Fellow

An Archaeologist helping to conserve some of the oldest and most important world heritage has been made a fellow of the British Academy.

Roger Matthews, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Reading has been given the prestigious award for his work in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, where he has led investigations into human settlements believed to be between 11,000 to 19,000 years old.

As President of global heritage organisation RASHID International since 2016, Professor Matthews has also helped to protect and preserve the rich cultural heritage from Iraq. RASHID International and Professor Matthews have previously published a report documenting the systematic destruction by ISIS of heritage sites, as a means of persecuting Iraq’s Yazidi population. The report has been used by a UN investigative team to help collate evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Iraq.

Priceless artefacts in museums in Iraq have also been protected from the threat of destruction and theft thanks to Professor Matthews’ work. A project, funded through the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund and led by Professor Matthews uses SmartWater liquid to print a unique chemical signature onto objects that is invisible in normal light.

Professor Matthews said:

“I am honoured and very pleased to join my Reading colleagues as an elected Fellow of the British Academy. Archaeological research is almost always a collaborative exercise and I would like to pay tribute to the many colleagues with whom I have worked for almost 40 years, in particular those from the countries of the Middle East as well as my closest colleague and partner, Dr Wendy Matthews, also of Reading’s Archaeology Department.”

Greatest concentration of Fellows for single discipline

With the award for Professor Matthews, the University of Reading now has the greatest concentration of Fellows of the British Academy in a single discipline, with three other active academics and two emerita in the Department of Archaeology.

In addition, Professor Matthews and fellow University of Reading archaeologists Dr Wendy Matthews and Dr Amy Richardson are investigating the world’s earliest settled societies in the Zagros mountains of Iraq and Iran. This is a key period in the history of humankind, as these settlements paved the way for towns and cities underpinning modern-day civilisation.

Professor Hella Eckardt, Head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Reading said:

"Everyone in the department is delighted to see Roger Matthews’ research excellence honoured by the British Academy. Unusually for any department, we already have three current colleagues in Mike Fulford, Roberta Gilchrist and Steve Mithen alongside the contributions of our two retired colleagues Richard Bradley and Martin Bell who have also received Fellow status. 

We are proud to be recognised for our world leading research, which feeds into our teaching

Professor Hella Eckardt, Head of the Departmentof Archaeology

“We are proud to be recognised for our world leading research, which feeds into our teaching. Archaeology research at Reading helps in protecting valuable cultural heritage and in developing understanding of our past to inform our future.”

Outstanding contribution to social sciences, humanities and the arts 

Professor Roger Matthews was named among 84 new Fellows in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the SHAPE subjects – the social sciences, humanities and the arts.

Welcoming the Fellows, the new President of the British Academy, Professor Julia Black FBA, said:

“As the new President of the British Academy, it gives me great pleasure to welcome this new cohort of Fellows, who are as impressive as ever and remind us of the rich and diverse scholarship and research undertaken within the SHAPE disciplines – the social sciences, humanities and the arts. I am very much looking forward to working with them on our shared interests.

“The need for SHAPE subjects has never been greater. As Britain recovers from the pandemic and seeks to build back better, the insights from our diverse disciplines will be vital to ensure the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the UK and will continue to provide the cultural and societal enrichment that has sustained us over the last eighteen months. Our new Fellows embody the value of their subjects and I congratulate them warmly for their achievement.”

Founded in 1902, the British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. It is a Fellowship of over 1400 of the leading minds in these subjects from the UK and overseas. Current Fellows include the classicist Professor Dame Mary Beard, the historian Professor Sir Simon Schama and philosopher Professor Baroness Onora O’Neill, while previous Fellows include Dame Frances Yates, Sir Winston Churchill, Seamus Heaney and Beatrice Webb. The Academy is also a funding body for research, nationally and internationally, and a forum for debate and engagement.

Picture credit: Digital Cultural Heritage Center at Sulaimani Polytechnic University, 2019.