Sir Leonard Woolley
| Sir Leonard Woolley | |
|---|---|
Sir Leonard Woolley holding the noted excavated Sumerian Queen's Lyre, 1922
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| Born |
Charles Leonard Woolley 17 April 1880 Upper Clapton, London |
| Died | 20 February 1960 (aged 79) London |
| Known for | excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia |
| Spouse(s) | Katharine Elizabeth Keeling Menke |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | archaeology; military intelligence |
Sir Charles Leonard Woolley (17 April 1880 – 20 February 1960) was a British archaeologist best known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia. He is recognized as one of the first archaeologists to excavate methodically, and use records to reconstruct ancient life. Woolley was knighted in 1935 for his contributions to the discipline of archaeology.
He was one of the first ‘modern’ archaeologists, who excavated in a methodical way, keeping careful records, and using them to reconstruct ancient life and history.
Woolley was the son of a clergyman, and was brother to Geoffrey Harold Woolley, VC, and George Cathcart Woolley. He was born at 13 Southwold Road, Upper Clapton, in the modern London Borough of Hackney and educated at St John's School, Leatherhead and New College, Oxford. He was interested in excavations from a young age.
In 1905, Woolley became assistant of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Volunteered by Arthur Evans to run the excavations on the Roman site at Corbridge (near Hadrian's Wall) for Francis Haverfield, Woolley began his excavation career there in 1906, later admitting in Spadework that "I had never studied archaeological methods even from books ... and I had not any idea how to make a survey or a ground-plan" (Woolley 1953:15). Nevertheless, the Corbridge Lion was found under his supervision.
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