David Wengrow

Photo of Prof David Wengrow in a grey suit sitting in an office with a book case behind him. He is looking away from the camera. Photo credit - jamieson_nyt

Prof David Wengrow @ucl.ac.uk Institute of #Archaeology has been awarded the prestigious J. I. Staley Prize for #Anthropological Excellence this year by @sarsf.bsky.social School of Advanced Research

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@davidwengrow.bsky.social

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Today we announce that The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity has been awarded the 2025 J. I. Staley Prize. Congratulations David Wengrow and the late David Graeber @uclarchaeology.bsky.social @davidwengrow.bsky.social
sarweb.org/news-2025-st...

At today’s plenary of the American Anthropological Association #TheDawnOfEverything was awarded the Staley Prize for ‘outstanding scholarship’ by the School for Advanced Research🙏

It would have meant so much to David Graeber, as it does to me
sarweb.org/awards/j-i-s...

At today’s plenary of the American Anthropological Association #TheDawnOfEverything was awarded the Staley Prize for ‘outstanding scholarship’ by the School for Advanced Research🙏

It would have meant so much to David Graeber, as it does to me
sarweb.org/awards/j-i-s...

From https://www.eurozine.com/change-course-human-history/

#Wengrow/ #Graeber on pre-Columbian cultures. I think the Tlaxcalans knew the score–

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity A New History of Humanity

archeology
the science of finding
we're all so human

#senryu
I am finally reading The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber (of blessed memory) and David Wengrow, and loving it so much.
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

In this episode of The Amargi Mosaic, host Elif Sarican speaks with Professor David Wengrow about how archaeology in Kurdistan has shaped understanding of alternatives to state power. They explore… Prof. David Wengrow | The Amargi Mosaic

Archaeologist David Wengrow joins The Amargi Mosaic to discuss how discoveries in Kurdistan reveal human alternatives to state power, in conversation with Elif Sarican.
Watch the full interview: youtu.be/Gojvi9miyec

Got it in one.

I just finished drafting a new introduction to Gordon Childe’s book, and there’s something very cool about being able to say that ..

David Wengrow to give the Tanner Lectures on Human Values for 2026 David Wengrow (UCL Institute of Archaeology) has been invited to give the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at the University of Utah in March 2026.

David Wengrow to give the Tanner Lectures on Human Values for 2026 @utah.edu entitled 'The Elementary Forms of Human Freedom.'

More here:

📱 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...

Image: @davidwengrow.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk Institute of Archaeology (Image credit: Tom Jamieson)

#LocalAndGlobal

Book Discussion: Indian Archaeology After Independence - Amalananda - Nehru Centre London The Nehru Centre,London, will host a Book Discussion on “Indian Archaeology after Independence: Amalananda Ghosh and His Legacy” by Himanshu Prabha Ray and Ajay Yadav (Routledge, 2025). The discussion...

Very much looking forward to this
Book Discussion: ‘Indian Archaeology After Independence’ by Himanshu Prabha Ray + Ajay Yadav, also featuring @willdalrymple.bsky.social and Shailendra Bhandare. Nehru Centre London.
www.nehrucentre.org.uk/events/book-...

I am deeply honoured by this invitation to deliver The Tanner Lectures on Human Values next Spring. My topic: ‘The elementary forms of human freedom.’
tannerlectures.org/lectures/the...

Apropos, my letter in this month’s LRB concerning their recent piece.

Ukrainian edition on the way ✊🏻
#TheDawnOfEverything
#DavidGraeber

A Radical Anthropologist Finds Himself in Academic ‘Exile’ David Graeber, a scholar of the radical left, can’t find a job. Maybe American anthropology departments aren’t as liberal as you think.

On the 5th anniversary of his death, David Graeber’s unwilling exile from US academia has a particular salience. This account of what happened in 2005, from The Chronicle of Higher Education, is worth reading in the perspective of 2025.
www.chronicle.com/article/a-ra...

Very interesting. Some years ago I tried to trace the early phases of this conjuncture, at least in outline. Good luck with it.
global.oup.com/academic/pro...

In the 1950s scholars wrote about the “vitalist” aspects of ancient Egyptian & Mesopotamian cosmology: the non-human world was animate, personified. Then, in the 70s, they traced the origins of extractive, imperial regimes to these same civilisations. What’s fascinating imo is that both can be true.

Hats off to fellow archaeologists who stayed on the other platform to combat misinformation - it’s actually a remarkably unselfish and thankless thing to do .. so thanks.

"The true and fascinating story of Easter Island and its amazing statues" KEN FOLLETT
"Anyone looking for an intelligent, balanced and accessible account of Rapa Nui should read his book"
PROF CHRIS GOSDEN
Out September 11 – Pre-order now
amazon.co.uk/Island-Edge-...

Many congratulations!

icymi

“neither love nor friendship can exist without freedom, and that none of these terms has any real meaning without truth..”

this piece delves deep & covers a lot of ground and is defs worth a read & discussion

In memory of Professor Michael Rowlands UCL Anthropology is sad to announce the death of Professor Michael Rowlands on 19 July 2025.

My thoughts today with family and friends of Prof. Michael Rowlands. Mike shaped the fields of archaeology, anthropology, cultural heritage and material culture studies - his critical, comparative approach leaves a profound mark on the study of Europe, Africa, and China
www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology...

Next on my reading list. As in: today. Now.

Seeds of another world The nexus of radical inequality, social atomization and male victimhood has been exploited before. But why now, on such a scale? To understand the appeal of the far right today we need to examine the...

‘To understand the appeal of the far right today we need to examine the origins of the fascist myth of primordial male kinship.’ @davidwengrow.bsky.social on excellent form here. www.eurozine.com/seeds-of-ano...

Good article. Also a great cautionary tale about what happens when you build stories that leave half the population (women) out of the picture.

On far-right attempts to repurpose the past - an important (and timely!) piece by @davidwengrow.bsky.social

'What if, for once, we could bring ourselves to look this history of the nation in the eye? Could we discover something about the beginnings of the path we now find ourselves on again, or even how to get off it and learn to speak a different language of human politics, before it’s too late?"

Excellent article from David Wengrow. Given how much the far right and white supremacists have co-opted history and prehistory, as well as "race science", this should be required reading for anyone interested in how we combat fascism seeping its vile way into perceptions of the archaeological past.

I really enjoyed this. Made me wonder about the link between fascism and systems of monogamy (than centre on ideas of woman as other).