Paul Bahn

Paul Bahn is a freelance writer, translator and broadcaster in archaeology. He was born and raised in Hull (Yorkshire), where he still lives, and studied archaeology at Cambridge where he obtained his doctorate in the subject in 1979. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a corresponding member of the Archaeological Institute of America, a contributing editor of Archaeology magazine (New York), and vice-president (UK) of the Easter Island Foundation. He instigated and led the project which in 2003 discovered Britain's only known Ice Age cave art, at Creswell Crags. His principal interests are prehistoric rock art (especially that of the last Ice Age), and the archaeology of Easter Island; but he has written or edited numerous books on the subject in general, ranging from dictionaries, atlases and histories to the standard textbook (written with Colin Renfrew), "Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice", now in its 6th edition, which is used all over the world. He has also published a series of humorous books about archaeology -- the "Bluffer's Guide to Archaeology", "Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction", and (with Bill Tidy) "Disgraceful Archaeology" (aka "Ancient Obscenities"). For many years he has also been a guide-lecturer on tours to the Ice Age decorated caves of Europe, as well as to Easter Island, and to the rock art of other continents.