Our ‘Spotlight on’ series highlights how our researchers are leading their field and transforming lives. Robin Coningham, Professor of Early Medieval Archaeology and UNESCO Chair in Archaeological Ethics and Practice, focuses on South Asia with a dedication to protecting cultural heritage.
Robin began his career at Bradford University after studying Archaeology and Anthropology at King’s College, Cambridge.
He joined Durham University in 2005, attracted by its reputation, museums, collections, and UNESCO World Heritage Site
Robin's focus on South Asian archaeology evolved from his early interest in the region. For him, it offers a rich study area, from early food production and urbanization to the development of religion, technology and international trade.
Robin's work traces South Asia's social, economic, and religious transformations from the first millennium BCE to its current status as home to a quarter of the world's population.
He has collaborated with colleagues across South Asia generating the first scientifically dated developmental sequences for selected ancient cities and their landscapes across the region, informing understandings of state and city origins.
For Robin, archaeology is not simply a passive tool for recording the past.
Since 1997 Robin has worked with UNESCO to understand and support heritage protection during conflicts and natural disasters.
Through over 30 international missions with UNESCO, he has worked with heritage practitioners, policy makers and communities to protect cultural heritage for future generations.
He was instrumental in the successful scientifically-led clearance, study and reconstruction of the Medieval Kasthamandap monument in Kathmandu after the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.
The earthquake was both a human and cultural disaster. Robin led a team to develop practical field training on salvaging material to aid reconstruction and evaluation of the foundations of collapsed structure.
Through this multidisciplinary work, Robin and his team were able to identify ancient techniques such as flexible mud mortar and copper sheet damp proofing which may have been early adaptations to earthquake risk. These forgotten techniques were then reintroduced during reconstruction work of the Kasthamandap.
Robin’s impact on cultural preservation goes far beyond his work on disaster-related threats.
In 2013 he led a team that uncovered the remains of the earliest ever Buddhist shrine, scientifically dated back to sixth century BCE in Nepal.
The timber shrine, which housed a tree, was buried within the foundations of the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini in Nepal. Its discovery corresponded with the earliest stories of Buddha’s life, that his mother gave birth to him whilst holding a tree branch in the Lumbini gardens.
Following this landmark discovery, Robin has worked with UNESCO and the Government of Nepal across the last decade to preserve, protect and present both Buddha’s birthplace at Lumbini and his childhood home at Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu.
Looking ahead, Robin’s focus is on collaboration with colleagues from South Asia and Austria on a project to map and better understand South Asia’s contribution to the origin and transmission of selected ancient knowledge systems, including urban planning and irrigation.
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