John Marshall (archaeologist)

Sir John Hubert Marshall ( born March 19, 1876 in Chester, Cheshire, England; † August 17, 1958 in Guildford, Surrey ) was a British archaeologist and explorer of the first Indus Valley Civilization.

Biography

Marshall was educated at Dulwich College and at King's College, Cambridge. After excavations in Crete (1898-1901), he was appointed in 1902 as Director of the Archaeological Survey of India; he held until his age-related dismissal (1931 ) this position.

His first major achievement was the discovery of the inscription on the Heliodorus pillar (1908 /9). From 1913 he worked for more than 20 years with excavations in Taxila as well as Buddhist centers of Sanchi and Sarnath.

In the 1920s, he headed the excavations led to the discovery of Harappa (1921) and Mohenjo -daro (1922 ), the two largest cities of the Indus civilization previously unknown.

Honors

Marshall was the first archaeologist who allowed it Indians to participate in the excavation and discovery of their own history. In 1910 he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE ); five years later (1915 ) he was beaten by George V to Sir. In 1936, he was named a Fellow of the British Academy.

Publications

• Mohenjo -daro and the Indus Civilization, 3 vol. (1931 )
• The Monuments of Sanchi, 3 vol. (1939 )
• Taxila (1951 )
• The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: the Story of the Early School, Its Birth, Growth and Decline (1960 )