March/April 2004
News

The Evolution of Archaeology Revealed

A photographic exhibition showing the history and the people behind one of the most important archaeological sites in Pakistan was recently held at the University.

The exhibition was created by Reader in Archaeology Dr Robin Coningham following the completion of his excavations at the Bala Hisar at Charsadda, in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Sir Nicholas Barrington (right), former British High Commissioner to Pakistan, performed the opening ceremony of a recent exhibition created by Reader in Archaeology Dr Robin Coningham following the completion of his excavations at the Bala Hisar at Charsadda, in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Sir Nicholas Barrington, former British High Commissioner to Pakistan, performed the opening ceremony in the University's Richmond Building Foyer.

The Bala Hisar, or 'High Fort', is a 70 feet-high mound on the edge of a once great citadel that once saw an invasion of Alexander the Great.

Former Bradford Grammar School pupil and legendary archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler excavated the Bala Hisar in 1958 and suggested the Persians founded it in the sixth century BC.

But Dr Robin Coningham and Professor Ihsan Ali of Peshawar University travelled to the site and used updated methods to make a number of new discoveries.

Robin said the exhibition showed how Wheeler was influenced by the politics of the time. For example, he concluded that Charsadda was created by colonial powers, possibly because colonialism was still part of the political agenda.

In the exhibition were photographs from Dr Coningham and Sir Mortimer's digs, and also other pictures depicting Sir Mortimer's life and time at school.

The display also included some of Wheeler's books on the archaeology of Charsadda as well as personal letters from him to fellow archaeologist Jaquetta Hawkes (wife of J.B. Priestley), loaned from the University's Special Collections department (J.B. Priestley Library).

The entire exhibition offered a fascinating insight into how archaeology has evolved over the decades, both in method and the way sites are interpreted.

The 10-day exhibition, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board with the assistance of the York Archaeological Trust, was open to the public free of charge.

16 April 2004

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