Charles Higham (archaeologist)

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Charles Higham is a British archaeologist most noted for his work in Southeast Asia. Among his noted contributions to archaeology are his work (including several documentaries) about the Angkor civilization in Cambodia, and his current work at Ban Non Wat. He is a professor at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Charles Higham was born into a family of an architect father. He got interested in archaeology at the age of 14. The next summer he worked in the excavations of Snail Down near Stonehenge with his brother. Later he helped with excavations in Wales, France and Greece.

Higham began to study archaeology at the University of London. In 1959 he entered the Cambridge University and begun to study under tutelage of archaeologist Grahame Clark. He also played in the University's rugby team.

Higham based his doctoral thesis on studies of domesticated cattle bones in Switzerland and Denmark. Eventually, with Clarke's help, he got a position in the University of Otago to teach European prehistory and in 1967 moved to New Zealand with his family. There he used the shells in an ancient midden to study migrations of prehistoric Māori tribes and two years later become a professor of prehistoric archaeology.

In 1969 Higham met US archaeologists Wilhelm Solheim, Donn Bayard and Chester Gorman in Thailand and later joined Gorman in an excavations on the Khorat Plateau. In 1974 they and Thai archaeologist Prisit Charoenwongsa studied looted site of Ban Chiang and discovered signs of bronzeworking. Findings were later dated to be 4000 years old, making it earliest signs of metalwork. In 1981 Higham worked in Ban Na Di with Amphan Kijngam and uncovered more signs of bronzeworking dating from 1300 BC.

In 1984 Higham joined forces with Thai archaeologist Rachanie Thorasat to excavate the mound of Khok Phanom Di, making forensic analyses of skeletons and two well-preserved bodies, testing strontium isotopes and checked the soil for seeds and pollen. In 1994 Higham and Thosarat began a multidisciplinary program Origins of Angkor to study the region's Iron Age around 500 BC.

As of 2006, Higham is leading excavations in Ban Non Wat in Thailand, with working with Thai archaeologists.

[edit] Publications (selection)

Early Cultures of Mainland Southeast Asia, Art Media Resources 2003, ISBN 1-58886-028-0
The Civilization of Angkor, University of California Press 2004, ISBN 0-520-24218-1