Garstang, John (1876–1956)

British archaeologist. He led an archaeological expedition to Jericho, Jordan, 1930–36, which revealed successive layers of occupation from Neolithic (New Stone Age) times, and also conducted research in Egypt, Palestine, and Turkey.

Garstang was born in Lancashire and educated at Oxford. In 1919 he was appointed the first director of the new British School of Archaeology and in 1920 director of the Department of Antiquities in Jerusalem. He was professor of the methods and practice of archaeology at Liverpool University, England, 1907–41, and director of the newly founded British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara, Turkey, 1947, becoming its president 1949.

His publications include The Hittite Empire 1929, The Foundations of Biblical History: Joshua and Judges 1931, and Prehistoric Mersin 1953.