It is with great sorrow that we announce the death of our colleague and friend, Dr Kenneth (Ken) Anthony Wardle, at the age of 78.
Ken was part of the fabric of the University of Birmingham, having worked here for 47 years. Ken was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology (formerly the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, and the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity). Ken was an experienced field archaeologist and pottery expert, and was widely regarded as a leading authority in Greek prehistory and the archaeology of Macedonia.
Ken was educated at Warwick School, before going on to study Classics at the University of Cambridge. Ken then went on to complete an MA and PhD at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London. Ken’s PhD thesis (1972) focused on the Bronze Age West of Pindus. While completing his PhD, Ken held the Macmillan Studentship at the British School at Athens (1970/71 and 1971/72), and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship at the University of Heidelberg.
In 1977, Ken was appointed to his teaching post at the University of Birmingham, where he combined world-leading research with the teaching of Minoan and Mycenaean cultures, early Classical archaeology, and the archaeology of Macedonia. During his long and distinguished career, Ken trained generations of undergraduates and postgraduates, supervising more than 20 PhD students. Many of Ken’s former undergraduate and postgraduate students have gone on to hold distinguished positions in the United Kingdom and abroad. For many years Ken also curated the department’s teaching collection of Near Eastern, Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities.
Ken was an experienced field archaeologist and expert in pottery. Early in his career, he collaborated with Lord William Taylour and Elisabeth French for the study of pottery groups from Mycenae. In 1975, Ken started his own excavation at Assiros Toumba, near Thessaloniki, with the support of the BSA, and later the University of Birmingham. The excavation lasted until 1989. Between 1992 and 1995, Ken directed another excavation at Knossos, Crete. The project was supported by the BSA and the University of Birmingham and funded by the British Academy and other sponsors. In 1994, Ken was invited to study the prehistoric and early historic pottery at Thermon in Aetolia, by Professor Ioannis Papapostolou, Director of the Athens Archaeological Society excavations. Ken’s work was in the final stages of preparation for publication by the Athens Archaeological Society at the time of his passing. Ken also (1983) launched the “Well Built Mycenae” series, together with Lord William Taylour, Diana Wardle, Rayna Andrews and Lisa French, which made available the results of Helleno-British excavations led by Taylour between 1959 and 1969. In 1996 Ken edited the results of the 1961-64 excavations of R.C. Rodden at the Early Neolithic settlement of Nea Nikomedeia, and in 2000 he published (with C. Ridley and C. Mould) the results of the 1971-73 Anglo Hellenic excavations at Neolithic Servia.
In all this work Ken was supported by his beloved wife of more than fifty years, Diana Wardle (1948-2023). Diana, who was one of the foremost scholars of prehistoric Greek dress in her own right, was the inspiration for Ken’s most recent publication, a multidisciplinary project on the Bronze Age “Dendra armour”.
Ken’s warmth, enthusiasm, generosity, and sheer joy for his chosen subject and all things Greek, will be remembered by all his colleagues, students, friends, and family.
Ken is survived by his daughter, Nicola, and his two granddaughters, Amalia and Kleio. Ken will be remembered fondly as “Pappou” far beyond his immediately family.
Tributes to Ken for inclusion on this page can be sent to artswebteam@contacts.bham.ac.uk. Please make sure to include your name and any institutional affiliation that you wish to be included in the attribution.
I knew Ken as a colleague and was always impressed by his indomitable cheerfulness and readiness to tackle all adversity. I have had some unforgettable conversations with him. I know he will be much missed.
My lasting memories of Ken are his good humour, patience and generosity to colleagues and students; of bumping into Ken as he walked to or from his car, always carrying a large bag full of books and papers and being able to sharing an easy conservation with him; of the thoughtful and insightful feedback he offered at our departmental research reading groups, of which he was a regular member. In his final year, he led the MA module ‘Research and Scholarship’, and once again his good humour and supportive encouragement of the students was apparent as was his ability to really be able to communicate the purpose and intention of the work and exercises, for, in his own words, being able to talk to other people about your work ‘is what teaching is all about’. Ken had invited me to attend the final seminar class for this module, in which I was privileged to witness the incredibly partnership of Ken and his wife Diana, as they entertained the group not only with a fascinating talk on Nestor’s cup but also with the opportunity to drink from Diana’s impressive collection of replica cups - it was certainly a highlight of the term. Our department will deeply feel the lost of Ken’s presence in all aspects of our community. My deepest sympathies for Nicola, Amalia and Kleio.
Ken was an institution already when I joined the University of Birmingham and had been so for some time. I want to just mention three things which stood out to me as contributing to this status: his room at the end of the third floor of the Arts Building was a cave within which stalagmites of paper, publications and archaeological material had grown over decades to a size so impressive that students mentioned it with awe and respect. Speaking of students, Ken had a special connection with his students which I was privileged to learn during a teaching observation exercise: not only did they respect his deep scholarship and enjoy helping him with the increasingly technological instruments for advancing student learning, but they also and evidently really liked him as a person. I sensed that this emotional connection came from his genuine interest in all students as individuals and in sharing with them his passion for archaeology. And thirdly, my own respect for Ken’s research as focused on the long-term agenda rather than short-term gains and as diverse, collaborative and international: putting in a joint application for NASA funding, publishing as part of team in top science journals Nature and PLOS ONE, and creating a social media storm in proving that 3500-year-old Mycenean armour was, against all scholarly opinion, suitable for extended battle. Ken was particularly proud of this final research result not only because it was the culmination of decades of work, of an international and collaborative research project, and highly exciting for any archaeologist interested in the practical tests of replicas, but especially because his beloved Diana had played a major part in the replica production. This project and its results encapsulates so many of Ken’s outstanding qualities, but especially his love of archaeology and of Diana.
I have many fond memories of working with Ken, who was always a true gentleman and scholar. But I have two particular highlights to share, because they both speak for Ken’s passion for the subject and the care he had for his students. The first was co-supervising research students with him, often in a subject that was not exactly my expertise. Watching Ken impart his knowledge and expertise with generosity and enthusiasm was always something to behold. The second was seeing Ken’s students lock eyes on Mycenae in person, and witnessing the passion and enthusiasm that Ken had obviously inspired in the classroom. The connection that Ken’s students (whom I dubbed the ‘Kenlings’) felt to him when seeing the sites that he had taught them about, showed us all just how inspiring he was a teacher. We will all miss Ken very much.
Ken’s passing is a huge loss for the department. He was always willing to help with a smile on his face. He had a deeply inquisitive mind and was ever curious to learn more about the interconnectedness of the ancient Mediterranean. Ken enjoyed sharing his knowledge about the archaeology of Greece not only with colleagues, but particularly with students at the department. Last April his group of tutees had a picture taken at Mycenae during their Study Tour trip to Greece, and they sent it to Ken saying that they were thinking of him and thanking him for everything he had taught them. He printed that photo and put it up on his notice board, proudly showing it to everyone who passed by! He truly had a passion for archaeology, and in June we visited the CAHA field school together in Shropshire. We had a wonderful day, and students really enjoyed the sweet and tasty treats that Ken brought along. Ken was a wonderful colleague, and he will be sorely missed.
Ken was part of the fabric of the University. When I first visited Birmingham prior to joining the archaeology field unit, visiting Ken was an essential element of the tour. Always warm and friendly, corridor conversations were never predictable, owing to the breadth of Ken's research interests. Ken always had a very loyal following of students committed the study of Bronze Age Greece, and this became all the more evident seeing their enthusiasm during the Study Tour at sites like Mycenae. Ken's care for the students was clearly reciprocated - on arriving back in the department, photos that the students had sent him whilst we were away were already on his notice board. Supervising students with Ken was always an education for me, highlighting the incredible depth of both his archaeological knowledge and experience. Just visiting his office was a delight! Ken was also very generous with his time. He always made the effort to visit the student training excavations, the last of which was in June this year. He brought us drinks and Greek pastries each time he visited, sometime twice in a since season. But he was also generous in sharing his knowledge and experience; never patronising, but always full of new ideas and questions. Ken's thoughtful humour, his generosity and deep knowledge will all be sorely missed.
Apart from his marvellous scholarship, for me, the hospitality and generosity of spirit shown by Ken (and Diana) over so many years has been formative in producing the sense of community that connects us all, colleagues and students. Ken was endlessly interested in everything, a real renaissance man, and his ability to offer acute and kind feedback will be sorely missed. Ken brought a great enthusiasm to all aspects of academic life, and my particular memories will long be rooted in the extraordinary receptions hosted by the Wardles in their garden, transformed for each event into a wonderland of delicious food and conviviality. Ave atque vale.
Ken was so many things in the department at Birmingham during his long career there, even during the last ten years I was privileged to be his colleague. For years he oversaw the Study Tour – a central part of the second year curriculum – battling with successive waves of administrative demands, because he believed so strongly in the need for students to visit the wonderful sites they were studying. For similar reasons, he also invested a considerable amount of time over the years in the departmental museum. And, quite apart from his talents as teacher and researcher, he was an excellent host and extremely skilled – and fearless – home builder. But I shall miss most of all our incidental conversations, in the corridor or his office, from which I learnt so much.
I (and my family) had the great luck of being friends with both Ken and Diana Wardle. This was mainly the result of a fortunate coincidence: my two girls and their two granddaughters are of the same age and, sometimes, had the same set of interests (particularly orchestra) in common. Over the years our two families fell into the same annual routines. Post-Christmas goose and ham pie, Burns night, Greek easter, making gingerbread houses before Christmas and so on. Especially enjoyable was the annual trips to the Panto at the Birmingham Hippodrome where Diana particularly enjoyed the high levels of innuendo which sailed over the heads of various young children. Last Easter Ken and the remaining Wardles came to us for the day and took part in our traditional easter egg hunt. I will always remember Ken’s glee at hiding the easter eggs in the most difficult places possible. This included him stuffing them up ground level drainpipes. The realisation that this calendar of shared life has reached its end is a huge sadness for all my family.
As a friend Ken was always supportive and a generous listener. This often included the offering of sound advice which sometimes was not what you wanted to hear, but Ken always had a way of gently guiding you to seeing a different way forward. Diana and Ken were very generous hosts and you would often find yourself dining with several members of their extended family, a range of local friends, ‘adopted’ Greek sons and daughters, PhD students and, sometimes, apparent strangers. All were treated well and with great care. As a colleague Ken’s care and generosity extended into his working life. Many a new member of staff thought Ken had been assigned as their mentor by the department only to find that this was an unofficial role that he just took on. As others have indicated Ken was very much a fixture at the centre of the department. Ken was a living reminder of a gentler and more congenial time in academia. Towards his later years in the department he assumed the role of a valued and experienced source of ‘institutional memory’ (I remember an occasion when he said ‘the University tried that 25 years ago and when it went wrong was the only time he can ever recall the University of Birmingham apologised to the rest of us’).
Ken was universally respected and loved by the students in the department. Particularly, the large numbers of personal tutees that he encouraged and cared for over the years. The students always referred to him, behind his back, as ‘cuddly Ken’. Ken always tried to attend the yearly summer training excavations to catch up with his tutees. They often would wait with great anticipation for the day when Ken was due to appear. When that day arrived Ken and a large cart full of Diana’s baking and other more liquid treats would appear at the end of the track. Ken would then spend the day laughing with the students and listening to the details of their lives and problems with great interest, understanding and a few careful words of guidance. The training excavation will not be the same without Ken's visits. I am now looking after Ken’s existing personal tutees and have been really touched by the messages I have received from them showing real shock and deep grief at his passing. This, I think, can stand as a testament to the wonderful man Ken Wardle was.
I am so sad to hear this news about Ken, who was very encouraging to me when at a very young age I did part-time tutoring at Birmingham. His academic achievements of course stand on their own merits, but he will be fondly remembered also by many for such acts of unsolicited kindness and friendship.
Ken displayed an immense warmth of character and possessed great resources of experience and ingenuity. From keeping cars going in implausible circumstances to mending his roof, from constructing an extension to the house in a way that satisfied the testing demands of his wife Diana to roasting the hogget each (Greek) Easter, there was nothing he could not – or would not - turn his hand to. He had the patience of Job and lived a life of diverse and multiple obligations, and seemed never to be fazed, let alone dispirited. His students mattered enormously to him, at all levels, and he told me he would not have continued teaching so late if it were not for that. And his huge range of friends too, with a very special place for Greece. I shall miss all those sparkling, and well-fuelled, discussions.
Ken always smiled and had a positive attitude toward life; he was the kindest soul. His office door was always open, welcoming students to seek guidance. His academic accomplishments certainly speak for themselves. Students loved learning with him, and he motivated me like no other. He inspired many to achieve wonderful things in their careers and was a remarkable supervisor to me during my PhD at the University of Birmingham, and a true role model.
Senior Lecturer
Biographical and contact information for Dr Ken Wardle in Archaeology at the University of Birmingham.
