Helena Hamerow facts for kids

Helena Francisca Hamerow (born 18 September 1961) is an American archaeologist. An archaeologist is someone who studies human history by digging up old things. She is famous for her work on early medieval communities in Northwestern Europe. She is a Professor of Early Medieval archaeology at the University of Oxford. She used to be the head of the School of Archaeology there.

Early Life and Education

Helena Hamerow went to the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1979 to 1983. She earned a special degree in Anthropology there. Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures.

Then, she continued her studies at the University of Oxford in England. In 1988, she earned her Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree. This is a very high academic degree. Her special project was about old pottery and how an Anglo-Saxon village grew in a place called Mucking, Essex.

Academic Career

After her studies, Helena Hamerow became a research fellow at Somerville College. This was until 1990. In 1991, she started teaching about early medieval archaeology at Durham University.

In 1996, Professor Hamerow returned to Oxford. She became a Professor of Early Medieval Archaeology. She still teaches and researches there today. She is also a Fellow at St Cross College. From 2005 to 2008, she was the Vice-Master there. She also led the School of Archaeology from 2010 to 2013.

Archaeological Research

Professor Hamerow's main research looks at how people lived in the countryside during the Anglo-Saxon period. She studies how big changes, like new monasteries or kingdoms, affected farmers and villages. She has studied areas around the North Sea from the years 400 to 900 AD.

She has worked on several projects in the Upper Thames Valley. These include important sites like Sutton Courtenay and Dorchester-on-Thames.

Currently, Professor Hamerow leads a big project called Feeding Anglo-Saxon England. This project is looking into a major change in farming. It studies how cereal farming grew a lot in Europe between 800 and 1200 AD.

The University of Oxford has many old notes and drawings from another archaeologist, Sonia Chadwick Hawkes. Professor Hamerow, who was once a student of Hawkes, helped put all this material onto computers. This project finished in 2007.

Professor Hamerow is also a co-director of an ongoing dig at Dorchester-on-Thames. This project is called Discovering Dorchester. She helped plan the project in 2007 and has been leading it ever since. This site is very important because it has many old remains. These remains date from prehistoric times all the way to the medieval era.

She is also a main researcher for the Origins of Wessex project. This project studies how the old kingdom of Wessex developed. The area they are studying has many Anglo-Saxon archaeological sites. The team is currently digging at a large Anglo-Saxon settlement in Long Wittenham. This site is known for having a very special Anglo-Saxon cemetery and many large old buildings.

Media Appearances

Television Shows

Helena Hamerow has appeared on British TV shows. In 2010, she was on BBC Four's Digging for Britain. In 2013, she appeared on King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons. She was also on two episodes of the popular archaeology TV series, Time Team, between 2008 and 2010.

Open Letter about Ancient Remains

In 2008, the British government said that all ancient human remains found during digs in England and Wales had to be reburied quickly.

In 2011, Professor Hamerow and 39 other leading archaeologists wrote an open letter. They asked the government for more time to study these ancient human remains. Later that year, the government allowed museums to keep remains for study. They also started talking about new rules for keeping and burying ancient human remains.

Awards and Honours

Helena Hamerow was chosen as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in May 1996. In 2023, she became a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). This is a big honour for people who study humanities and social sciences in the UK.

She is also a Commissioner for Historic England. She used to be the President of the Society for Medieval Archaeology. She was also the Vice-President of the Royal Archaeological Institute.

Selected Publications

Books

See also

In Spanish: Helena Hamerow para niños