Chris Gosden

Professor Chris Gosden is Chair of European Archaeology at Oxford University and has carried out archaeological fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, Turkmenistan, Borneo and Britain. Previously, he was a curator and lecturer at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, where he worked on the history of collections and their relevance to post-colonial relations and identity. Chris is a fellow of the British Academy and Society of Antiquaries, as well as a trustee of the Art Fund and the British Museum. He is the author of Prehistory for the Oxford Very Short Introductions series.

In 2020, Viking published his first trade book, The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present (Viking), on the divergence of scientifically based societies arising in cities over the last 5000 years and the magic-oriented peoples of the steppes and forest. It was picked a Telegraph Book of the Year and widely praised in the media.