Professor James Whitley

Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology at Cardiff University and a former Director of the British School at Athens, James has been at the forefront of Greek archaeology for more than three decades – teaching, excavating and publishing across the full sweep of the ancient world, from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period.

His fieldwork has taken him across Britain, Italy and Greece. He has directed a major programme of excavation around the ancient city of Praisos in Crete since 1992. His publications include the award-winning The Archaeology of Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 2001), recipient of the Runciman Prize, and most recently Knossos: Myth, History and Archaeology (Bloomsbury, 2023) – a testament to his ability to bring the ancient world to life for specialist and general reader alike.