Stephen Shennan

Stephen Shennan, FBA (born 9 May 1949) is a British archaeologist and academic. Since 1996, he has been Professor of Theoretical Archaeology. He was Director of the Institute of Archaeology at the University College London from 2005 to 2014.

Shennan was educated at the Becket School, West Bridgford, and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he received BA (1971) and PhD (1977) degrees in Archaeology. He focuses on cultural evolution and Darwinian archaeology, applying theories from evolutionary ecology and cladistics to archaeology. In July 2006, Shennan was elected Fellow of the British Academy. Shennan was also awarded the RAI Huxley Medal 2021.