Phil Harding

I am currently a Fieldwork Archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology’s Salisbury office working on large scale excavation projects including, Kingsmead Horton the Army Basing Programme work at Bulford. However, I am probably best known for my regular appearances on Channel 4’s Time Team where I was one of core group of archaeologists for many years.

I began career as a field archaeologist more than 50 years ago, and I have worked for Wessex Archaeology since 1979, including many sites in and around Salisbury. I have written a number of academic publications relating to some of the most significant archaeological sites of the last fifty years and am an acknowledged expert on prehistoric flint-knapping which I enjoy demonstrating at public demonstrations, community events and classes. My aim is to help keep this skill alive for future generations and to pass on to them my passion and love for archaeology in the process. 

I spend much of my time giving talks and demonstrations in schools and colleges, working with injured soldiers and with the Young Archaeologists’ Club as well as with many other charities. In 2008 I was extremely proud to be awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Southampton in 2008 “for outstanding personal achievement in the field of archaeology”.  In addition I was honoured to receive the Henry Stopes Memorial Medal from the Geologists’ Association in 2012 – a medal awarded just once every three years for exceptional work on the Prehistory of Man. I was voted Archaeologist of the Year in March 2013 by readers of Current Archaeology Magazine.

In my spare time I am President of the Young Archaeologists’ Club (YAC), a network of clubs run by adult volunteers for young people (8–16 year olds) that provides vital opportunities for them to get hands-on experience with Britain’s heritage, and learn about our past. I am also Honorary President of the Defence Archaeology Group, founded in 2012 to help rehabilitate injured service personnel through the pursuit of archaeology. I was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2006.