The origins of the Institute go back to 1946, when
Christopher Hawkes was appointed Oxford's first Professor of European Prehistory and
Ian Richmond the first Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire. Teaching facilities were set up for them at 36 Beaumont Street, which grew into the institute. It was formally founded in 1961, with Hawkes as its first director. Richmond and Hawkes were succeeded by
Sheppard Frere and
Barry Cunliffe, in respectively 1965 and 1972, who oversaw and expansion of the institute's research and fieldwork facilities in the 1970s. Starting in 1992, Oxford introduced a bachelor's degree in anthropology and archaeology and the Institute became the focal point for undergraduate teaching in archaeology. The following year
Margareta Steinby succeeded Frere as Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire. The
Sackler Library, situated behind the institute, was opened in 2001. During its construction a
Bronze Age ring ditches and a medieval
orchard and
Carmelite priory were discovered under the foundations.
Andrew Wilson has been the Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire since 2004. ==Research centres==