Amara Thornton facts for kids

Amara Thornton is a historian who studies archaeology. This means she looks at how archaeology has changed over time. She focuses on British archaeologists who worked in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. This was mainly in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Amara also explores how archaeology connects to other things. These include how people traveled (tourism) and how discoveries were shared (publishing). She also looks at how people learned about archaeology (education) and the role of women. She works at UCL.

Growing Up and Studying

Amara Thornton grew up in the United States. She went on to study Museum Studies for her master's degree. This helped her learn about how museums work and how they display history.

Becoming an Archaeology Expert

Amara earned her PhD from UCL in 2011. Her special research looked at how British archaeologists worked together. She studied the lives of famous archaeologists like George Horsfield, Agnes Conway, John Crowfoot, Grace Mary ‘Molly’ Crowfoot, and John Garstang.

In 2012, her PhD research was recognized. She received an honorable mention for a special award. This award is given for the best PhD paper about the Middle East in Britain.

Sharing Archaeology with Everyone

From 2013 to 2016, Amara had a special research job at UCL. During this time, she wrote a book called Archaeologists in Print: Publishing for the People. This book explains how archaeologists shared their discoveries with the public. People have said her book is easy to read. It shows how archaeology became known to many people.

Exploring Ancient Discoveries

Amara leads a cool project called Filming Antiquity. This project looks at old films and photos of ancient sites. In 2018, she helped create a digital diary. This diary belonged to George Horsfield and Agnes Conway. It described their exciting digs at Petra in 1929.

From 2019 to 2020, Amara worked at the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology. This museum is at the University of Reading.

Amara was also featured in an exhibition called TrowelBlazers Raising Horizons. This exhibition celebrates women in archaeology. In 2015, she became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. This is a special group for people interested in history and old things.

Books and Articles

Amara Thornton has written many interesting articles and a book about archaeology. Here are some of her works:

• 2011. The Allure of Archaeology: Agnes Conway and Jane Harrison at Newnham College, 1903–1907. Bulletin of the History of Archaeology 21(1).
• 2012. Tents, Tours, and Treks: Archaeologists, Antiquities Services, and Tourism in Mandate Palestine and Transjordan. Public Archaeology 11(4): 195-216.
• 2014. The nobody: Exploring archaeological identity with George Horsfield (1882–1956). Archaeology International.
• 2015. Exhibition Season: Annual Archaeological Exhibitions in London, 1880s-1930s. Bulletin of the History of Archaeology 25.
• 2015. Social Networks in the History of Archaeology: Placing Archaeology in its context. In: Gisela Eberhardt and Fabian Link (Eds.), Historiographical Approaches to Past Archaeological Research. Berlin: Edition Topoi: 69–94.
• 2016. The digital makes visible the invisible. In P. de Montfort and R. E. Calvert, Still Invisible? Conversation Piece, British Art Studies 2.
• 2018. Archaeologists in Print: Publishing for the People. London: UCL Press.