History of the prize
This medal was endowed in 1992 by Professor Sir Grahame Clark (elected Fellow of the British Academy 1951; died 1995). The medal was awarded for the first time in 1993.
Eligibility
Eligible nominations can be for academic achievement involving recent contributions to the study of prehistoric archaeology.
How to nominate
Nominations for this award are open from 1 December to 31 January and may only be made by Fellows of the British Academy. Entries should be submitted electronically via this nomination form.
The deadline for submissions is 31 January each year. Nominations will be reviewed, and the winner selected, by the relevant panel.
If you have any queries submitting a nomination, please email [email protected].
2024 winner
Professor Nick Ashton has been awarded the Graham Clark Medal for his contribution to archaeology, excavating the internationally significant Lower Palaeolithic sites of High Lodge, Barnham, Elveden, Hoxne (all Suffolk) and Happisburgh (Norfolk) and his leadership of interdisciplinary projects. These continue to transform our understanding of the first 800,000 years of human occupation in the northern European peninsula, now known as Britain, under the fluctuations of successive ice ages.
History had always been a passion of Nick Ashton's, but with a love of the outdoors, it was a natural choice to study archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, London, with its wide range of undergraduate courses. He was soon enthused by the Palaeolithic through the teaching of Mark Newcomer, and the questions posed in the battlegrounds of ‘New Archaeology’. Within a year of graduating Nick took up a post at the British Museum, registering Palaeolithic collections. But the delayed publication of High Lodge required new fieldwork with Jill Cook, with traditional typological dating overturned by the older age of half a million years suggested by geology. This set the tone for more extensive excavations in Suffolk. With John McNabb, answering the ‘Clactonian Question’ was the main aim of fieldwork at Barnham. Important members of the team were geologist, Simon Lewis, and environmental archaeologist, Simon Parfitt, with whom he has worked alongside since.
Nick adopted a wider focus in 2001 with a Leverhulme Trust grant for the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project, directed by Chris Stringer, investigating the earliest sites and the effects of periodic glaciations on developments in technology and the human occupation of northern Europe. Research has continued with further Leverhulme grants and funding from the Calleva Foundation for the Pathways to Ancient Britain project, of which he is Co-Director. This enabled fieldwork at Happisburgh, discovering Europe’s oldest footprints and extending the occupation of northern Europe to over 800,000 years ago. Since 2013, the team have returned to Barnham to investigate the early use of fire. Alongside this work, he has contributed to many other British and European projects, most recently with Mark White, Rob Hosfield, Rob Davis, Marie-Hélène Moncel and Paula García-Medrano.
Based on publications, he was awarded a PhD from Leiden University in 2010, presented with the Henry Stopes Medal from the Geologists’ Association in 2018, and is an honorary professor at UCL and Durham. Still working at the British Museum, he has organised regular international conferences and workshops, alongside student teaching, mentoring and collections research, helping to develop the museum as a global centre for Palaeolithic studies.
"I am honoured, delighted and amazed to be awarded the Graham Clark Medal, and feel humbled by the list of past holders. For me one medallist stands out – John Wymer – who made an astonishing contribution to the subject and who encouraged and mentored as a friend during my early career. I have also been fortunate in working with such excellent colleagues throughout the years, who have made European Palaeolithic research such a fascinating, exciting and enjoyable field in which to be involved, and who have contributed significantly to the awarding of this medal."
- Professor Nick Ashton, August 2024
Previous winners
2023 Dr Ann Woodward, University of Birmingham
2022 Dr Alex Gibson, University of Bradford
2020 Dr Frances Healy, Cardiff University
2018 Dr Alison Sheridan, National Museums Scotland
2016 Professor Kristian Kristiansen, University of Gothenburg
2014 Dr Joan Oates FBA, University of Cambridge
2012 Professor Charles Higham FBA FRSNZ, University of Otago, New Zealand
2010 Professor Richard Bradley FBA, Professor of Archeology, University of Reading
2008 Professor Paul Mellars FBA, Professor of Pre-History and Human Evolution, University of Cambridge
2006 Professor Geoffrey J Wainwright MBE FSA
2004 Professor Barrington W Cunliffe CBE FBA
2002 Dr John Wymer
1999 Professor D J Mulvaney FBA
1997 Professor J D Clark
1995 Dr John Coles
1993 Professor Stuart Piggott