Thurstan Shaw
| Charles Thurstan Shaw | |
|---|---|
Thurstan Shaw, Senegal, 1967
|
|
| Born |
27 June 1914 Plymouth, England |
| Died | 8 March 2013 (aged 98) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Archaeologist |
| Known for | Archaeology of Igbo Ukwu |
| Notable work | Igbo Ukwu Volume I & II |
Charles Thurstan Shaw CBE FBA FSA (27 June 1914 – 8 March 2013) was an English archaeologist, the first trained specialist to work in what was then British West Africa. He specialized in the ancient cultures of present-day Ghana and Nigeria. He helped establish academic institutions, including the Ghana National Museum and the archaeology department at the University of Ghana. He began working with the University of Ibadan in 1960, where he later founded and developed its archeology department. He led this for more than 10 years before his retirement in 1974.
Shaw's excavations at Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria revealed a 9th-century indigenous culture that created highly sophisticated work in bronze metalworking, independent of any Arab or European influence and centuries before other sites that were better known at the time of discovery. He was awarded the C.B.E. in 1972 for his contributions. In 1989 he was made a tribal chief in Nigeria.
In addition, Shaw worked on expanding communications about African archaeology; in 1964, he founded the West African Archaeological Newsletter, which he edited until 1970; from 1971-1975, he edited the West African Journal of Archaeology.
Born in Plymouth, England, Thurstan Shaw was the second son of Reverend John Herbert Shaw, an Anglican priest, and Grace Irene Woollatt. He was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton. He studied Classics at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University, where he added Archeology. Shaw received a B.A (1st class) in 1936 and was awarded an M.A. in 1941.
Shaw was encouraged by Louis Leakey to go to the Gold Coast (later Ghana) to work in archaeology. He arrived on 15 September 1937 and started as a tutor with the Cambridge Education Committee. He was appointed Curator of the Anthropology Museum at Achimota College, holding that post until 1945. During this time he conducted the first archaeological excavations in Ghana at Dawu near Accra. He served the Cambridge Institute of Education from 1951–1964.
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