Eric Birley

Eric Birley
Birley's Hatfield College portrait.
Born	(1906-01-12)12 January 1906 Eccles, Lancashire, England
Died	20 October 1995(1995-10-20) (aged 89) Carvoran House, Greenhead, Northumberland, England
Residence	Chesterholm Carvoran House
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Nationality	English
Fields	History Archaeology
Institutions	Hatfield College University of Durham
Alma mater	Clifton College Brasenose College, Oxford
Notable students	David Breeze John Gillam George Jobey John Wilkes Brian Dobson
Known for	Excavations of Hadrian's Wall at Vindolanda Studies into the organisation and methods of the Roman Army
Influences	Michael Holroyd R. G. Collingwood F. G. Simpson

Eric Barff Birley (12 January 1906 – 20 October 1995), was a British historian and archaeologist, particularly associated with the excavation of the forts of Hadrian's Wall, notably at Vindolanda. He was born in Eccles, Lancashire, England, on 12 January 1906. He died at Carvoran House, Greenhead,Northumberland, England, on 20 October 1995, age 89.

Birley was educated at Clifton College. He then studied classics at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he obtained a double first in Mods and Greats. He was influenced in the study of history and archaeology by Michael Holroyd, his Brasenose tutor;R. G. Collingwood, the renowned authority on Roman Britain; and F.G. Simpson, Director of Field Studies at Durham, and a great influence on Birley vis-à-vis the art and science of excavation.

Under the direction of F.G. Simpson, Birley began excavating at Hadrian's Wall in 1927 while an undergraduate. Birley's first archaeological dig occurred at Birdoswald. After graduating from Oxford, Birley worked for a short time for the Society of Antiquaries of London acting as a construction site observer for the Society. It was during this period in London that Birley befriended Mortimer Wheeler of the London Museum engendering in Birley a lifelong interest in "imported Roman 'samian' pottery with moulded decoration." A chance discovery in 1929 of two inscription stones in the praetentura at Birdoswald led Birley to suggest redating the Wall periods. This discovery, and Birley's redating, impacted the study of Roman Britain tremendously inasmuch as it "has formed the basis of all subsequent work on the chronology of Hadrian's Wall."