Rate My Professor Duncan Garrow

Professor Duncan Garrow is Professor in Later Prehistoric Archaeology and Head of Department of Archaeology at the University of Reading, within the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science. Prior to his academic career, he worked in commercial archaeology at the Cambridge Archaeological Unit from 1996 to 2002, after which he undertook his PhD on Neolithic and Early Bronze Age pits in East Anglia. Garrow's research centres on the prehistory of north-western Europe, with key interests in long-term histories of deposition, burial practice, material culture, island archaeologies, archaeological theory, and the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. He emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches and the integration of developer-funded and university-based archaeology.

Garrow has led major projects including the AHRC-funded 'Stepping Stones to the Neolithic?', investigating maritime connectivity and island settlement in Britain's western seaways from 5000 to 3500 BC, and the ongoing 'Islands of Stone: Neolithic crannogs in the Outer Hebrides' with Fraser Sturt and Angela Gannon, combining underwater and terrestrial survey. He co-curated the British Museum's 'The World of Stonehenge' exhibition in 2022 with Neil Wilkin, which drew over a million visitors and explored symbols of power in the prehistoric world, earning recognition in University of Reading Research Awards for engagement and impact. Other notable work includes 'Technologies of Enchantment? Celtic Art in Britain during the Iron Age and Early Roman periods' and 'Icons in Context: Rethinking Symbols of Power at the Time of Stonehenge'. His influential publications encompass books such as Technologies of Enchantment? Exploring Celtic Art: 400 BC to AD 100 (Oxford University Press, 2012), The World of Stonehenge (British Museum Press, 2022), Grave Goods: Objects and Death in Later Prehistoric Britain (Oxbow Books, 2022), Neolithic Stepping Stones: Excavation and Survey within the Western Seaways of Britain, 2008-2014 (Oxbow Books, 2017), and Rethinking Celtic Art (Oxbow Books, 2008). Seminal papers include 'Odd deposits and average practice: A critical history of the concept of structured deposition' (Archaeological Dialogues, 2012), 'Neolithic crannogs: rethinking settlement, monumentality and deposition in the Outer Hebrides and beyond' (Antiquity, 2019), and 'Pit clusters and the temporality of occupation: an earlier Neolithic site at Kilverstone, Thetford, Norfolk' (Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2005). Garrow engages the public through lectures like 'Into the World of Stonehenge' in the University Public Lecture Series.