Flinders Petrie

Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), British archaeologist and Egyptologist whose methodical fieldwork, awareness of the importance of stratigraphy, and classification of potsherds made a major contribution to archaeology. He was born in Charlton, now a suburb of London, and was educated privately. His early interest in archaeology, and his study of the units of measurement used in the design of such ancient monuments as Stonehenge, resulted in his first published works, Inductive Metrology, or the Recovery of Ancient Measures from the Monuments (1877) and Stonehenge: Plans, Description, and Theories (1880).

In 1880, Petrie began to investigate the Great Pyramid at Giza, and for the next 40 years concentrated on sites in Egypt and the Middle East. He conducted excavations at the great temple at Tanis (1884), and at the Greek cities of Naucratis and Daphnae (1885), both in the Nile delta, and in the region of Al Fayyūm (1888-1890). The painted pottery that he discovered at these sites led him to conclude that they were Greek trading colonies. His work in Egypt also included an investigation of the necropolis at Abydos and excavations at Tell El-Amarna.

From 1927 to 1938 Petrie conducted excavations in Palestine, notably at the ancient city of Lachish (called in recent times Tell ed Duweir or Tel Lakhish), in which he distinguished a succession of ten cities. By recording the presence of different types of pottery in successive stratigraphic layers, Petrie was able to suggest a chronological scheme; although more effective ways of dating have now been developed, he was the first to devise such a method.

Petrie was Edwards Professor of Egyptology at University College, London, from 1892 to 1933, and Professor Emeritus there from 1933. In 1894 he founded what became the British School of Archaeology in Egypt. In 1904 he published Methods and Aims of Archaeology, in which he outlined the methods of archaeological excavation that he developed and the potential that methodical exploration offered for learning about the past.