Ian Hodder, Dunlevie Family Professor, Stanford University, and Director of the Catalhoyuk Archaeological Project in Central Turkey, Becomes 29th Recipient of Lucy Wharton Drexel Medal for Archaeological Achievement

15 APRIL 2009, PHILADELPHIA, PA—Ian Hodder, Dunlevie Family Professor, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University, and Director of the Catalhöyük Archaeological Project in central Turkey, became the 29th recipient of the University of Pennsylvania Museum’s Lucy Wharton Drexel Medal for archaeological achievement. Dr. Richard Hodges, the Museum’s Williams Director, presented him with the medal, the top honor that the Penn Museum bestows on a scholar, before Dr. Hodder presented a special talk, “A Conversation about Community Engagement in Archaeology,” to a public audience in the Museum's Rainey Auditorium Tuesday evening 14 April 2009.

The Lucy Wharton Drexel Medal, established by the Penn Museum in 1889 to honor exceptional achievement in excavation or publication of archaeological work, is given by the Museum Director in consultation with past medal recipients and archaeological curators of the Museum. Distinguished past recipients have included W. M. Flinders Petrie, in 1903, for his work in Egypt; Sir Leonard Woolley, in 1955, for his work in the Near East; Gordon Randolph Willey, in 1981, for his work on the ancient Maya; Dr. Frederica de Laguna, in 1999, for her groundbreaking archaeological and ethnological work in Alaska; and most recently, Lord Colin Renfrew, internationally renowned for his contributions to archaeological theory and science, in 2003,

Professor Hodder received his PhD on "spatial analysis in archaeology" at the University of Cambridge in 1974. He was a lecturer at the University of Leeds from 1974 to 1977 before moving back to Cambridge, where he held several academic positions, including Professor of Archaeology from 1996 to 1999. In 2002, he became the Dunlevie Family Professor, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, at Stanford University. He is author of numerous articles and books, including Symbols in Action (Cambridge 1982), Reading the Past (Cambridge 1986), The Domestication of Europe (Oxford 1990), The Archaeological Process (Oxford 1999), and Catalhöyük: The Leopard's Tale (Thames and Hudson 2006).

Professor Hodder has been directing excavations at the 9,000 year old Neolithic site of Catalhöyük in central Turkey since 1993. The large-scale, 25 year project aims to place the art from the site in its full environmental, economic and social context, to conserve the paintings, plasters and mud walls, and to present the site to the public.

“Ian Hodder has without doubt set the pace in world archaeology over the past thirty years with extraordinarily provocative and stimulating publications," noted Dr. Hodges. "Now, at Catalhöyük he has become the pre-eminent place-maker in modern archaeology, turning this important excavation into a model which all contemporary archaeologists should take note of. He is without doubt a worthy recipient of the medal, following in the footsteps of many legendary archaeologists.”

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, located at 3260 South Streets on the Penn campus in Philadelphia, is dedicated to the study and understanding of human history and diversity. Founded in 1887, the Museum has sent more than 400 archaeological and anthropological expeditions to all the inhabited continents of the world. With an active exhibition schedule and educational programming for children and adults, the Museum offers the public an opportunity to share in the ongoing discovery of humankind's collective heritage. For general information, visitors may call (215) 898-4000, or visit the Museum’s award-winning website at http://www.penn.museum.