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Jago Cooper
Jago Cooper
Jago Cooper
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Jago Cooper (born 1 June 1977) is a British archaeologist. He is the Executive Director of the Sainsbury Centre and professor of Art and Archaeology at the University of East Anglia.[1] Formerly, he was Curator of the Americas at the British Museum whose career has focused on the archaeology of South America and the Caribbean, in particular the historic effects of climate change on island communities. Since 2011 he has written and presented a series of programmes for BBC Four, including Lost Kingdoms of South America, Lost Kingdoms of Central America, Easter Island: Mysteries of a Lost World, Masters Of The Pacific Coast: The Tribes Of The American Northwest, and The Inca: Masters of the Clouds. He has also published books on world art and archaeology.

Key Information

Biography

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Cooper attended Bryanston School in Dorset,[2] and University College London (UCL) where he was awarded BA, MA and PhD qualifications in archaeology. After periods on the teaching staff at the University of Leicester[3] and UCL, Cooper joined the British Museum's Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas in 2012.

Cooper's archaeological work has focused on the pre-Columbian archaeology of the Americas, including major projects at El Chorro de Maíta and Los Buchillones in Cuba.[4] He specialises in studying the historic effects of climate change in Caribbean island societies, most recently through examination of the cavescapes of Isla de Mona off Puerto Rico.[5] In 2012 he released the book Surviving Sudden Environmental Change: Answers from Archaeology with Payson D. Sheets which was described as being one of the "outstanding examples of 'thinking big'. . . carefully researched, interdisciplinary, focused and informative" by Erika Guttmann-Bond in the Antiquity Journal.[6]

In 2009 Cooper co-presented the Channel 4 series Man on Earth with Tony Robinson and Joy Singarayer,[7] and in 2011 wrote and presented the series Lost Kingdoms of South America for BBC Four, including four episodes exploring the Chachapoya people, the city of Tiwanaku, the legend of El Dorado and the Kingdom of Chimor.[8] A second series aired in September 2014 entitled Lost Kingdoms of Central America focusing on the Olmec, Chiriquí (Ngäbe) and Taíno people and the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan.[9] In 2013 he filmed a one off-special for BBC 4 entitled Easter Island: Mysteries of a Lost World which re-examined the historic collapse in Rapa Nui society.[10] January 2015 saw the broadcast of the two part series The Inca: Masters of the Clouds, also on BBC 4.[11]

Curated exhibitions

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  • Peru: A Journey in Time. 11 November 2021 - 20 February 2022, British Museum - Marking Peru's bicentennial year of independence, this exhibition highlighted the history, beliefs and cultural achievements of the different peoples who lived here from around 2500 BC to the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s, and their legacy in the centuries that followed.[12]
  • Arctic: Culture and Climate. 22 October 2020 - 21 February 2021, British Museum - "Developed in collaboration with Arctic communities, the exhibition celebrated the ingenuity and resilience of Arctic Peoples throughout history. It told the powerful story of respectful relationships with icy worlds and how Arctic Peoples have harnessed the weather and climate to thrive."[13]
  • Where the Thunderbird Lives: Cultural Resilience on the Northwest Coast of North America. 23 February - 27 August 2017, British Museum - "Where the Thunderbird lives celebrated the cultural resilience of First Nation communities on the Northwest Coast of North America. The exhibition aimed to bring the story of communities with more than 10,000 years of cultural continuity to an international audience at the British Museum."[14]

Books

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  • Cooper, J. & Sheets, P. (eds). 2012 Surviving Sudden Environmental Change: Answers from Archaeology. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.
  • Lincoln, A, Cooper, J. & Loovers, J. P. L. 2020 Arctic: Culture and Climate. Thames & Hudson [ISBN 978-05004-80663][15]
  • Sunnucks, L. O. & Cooper, J. 2021 Mapping a New Museum. Routledge [ISBN 978-10004-12512][16]
  • Pardo, C. & Cooper, J. (eds). 2021 Peru: a journey in time. British Museum Press, London, UK [ISBN 978-07141-24919][17]

References

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[edit]
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Jago Cooper

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Jago Cooper is a British archaeologist and museum director known for his expertise in the pre-Columbian archaeology of the Americas, his research on long-term human responses to climate change, and his work presenting BBC documentary series that explore ancient civilizations in South America, Central America, and the Pacific Northwest. His contributions extend to innovative museum leadership, where he has advanced public engagement with art and heritage through groundbreaking interpretive frameworks and visitor-focused initiatives. Since 2021, Cooper has served as Director of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and Professor of Art and Archaeology at the University of East Anglia, following a decade as Head of the Americas at the British Museum from 2012 to 2021. His academic background includes degrees from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, culminating in a PhD on prehistoric island interactions in the Caribbean. He is also a National Geographic Explorer, with fieldwork focusing on sites such as Mona Island in the Caribbean to investigate tipping points in ancient human settlement related to environmental pressures. Cooper has written and presented more than a dozen documentaries for the BBC, including the series Lost Kingdoms of South America and Lost Kingdoms of Central America, which highlight overlooked cultures and their historical significance. At the Sainsbury Centre, he led a major relaunch centered on the "Living Art" philosophy, which treats artworks as living entities with ongoing lifeforce, introducing practices such as pay-what-you-can entry, interactive visitor experiences, and thematic seasons addressing contemporary global questions. These changes have resulted in substantial increases in visitor numbers, broader audience diversity, and international acclaim, including nomination for the 2025 European Museum of the Year Award.

Early life and education

Early life

Jago Cooper was born in 1977. He grew up in a small village outside Cirencester in Gloucestershire. His passion for archaeology was ignited by his local museum, which encouraged young visitors to bring in archaeological finds—even if just a "mangy old sheep bone"—to be recorded on its analogue database.

Education

Jago Cooper completed his higher education at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (UCL), earning all his degrees in archaeology. He received a Bachelor of Science (BSc) between 1996 and 1999. He later returned to UCL and earned a Master of Arts (MA) with distinction from 2002 to 2003, with his dissertation titled "Material People vs Material Remains: The Role of Material Culture in the Study of the Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean." Cooper then completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from 2003 to 2007, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, with his thesis titled "Island Interaction in the Prehistoric Caribbean: an archaeological case study from northern Cuba." His postgraduate research focused on prehistoric Caribbean societies, laying the foundation for his subsequent work on indigenous cultures of the Americas.

Academic career

Teaching positions

Jago Cooper began his university teaching career at the University of Leicester after completing his PhD. He served as Lecturer in Landscape and Historical Archaeology from 2007 to 2008 before holding a Leverhulme Fellowship at the School of Archaeology and Ancient History from 2008 to 2011. These roles marked his initial engagement in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in archaeology, building on his doctoral research. From 2013 to 2022, Cooper was Honorary Lecturer at University College London, where he had earlier earned his degrees at the Institute of Archaeology. In 2021, he took up his current positions as Professor of Art and Archaeology at the University of East Anglia and Executive Director of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. This appointment represented a return to full-time academic leadership combining teaching, research, and institutional direction.

Research interests and fieldwork

Jago Cooper specializes in the pre-Columbian archaeology of the Americas, with a particular focus on the societies of South America and the Caribbean islands. He has explored the ways in which historic climate change affected island communities, examining how ancient populations adapted to environmental shifts. His fieldwork has concentrated on key sites in the Caribbean, notably in Cuba and Puerto Rico. In Cuba, Cooper participated in research at El Chorro de Maíta, investigating the site's indigenous cemetery and associated metal objects that reflect interactions between native and European materials. He also contributed to studies at Los Buchillones, where he co-authored a pilot survey of pre-Hispanic settlements along the north coast in 2004, documenting the site's submerged wooden structures and broader settlement patterns. Cooper's research has extended to Puerto Rico, where he has investigated the cavescapes of Isla de Mona. This work has documented extensive pre-Columbian cave use, including some of the most complex assemblages of indigenous iconography and ritual activity found in the Caribbean. These archaeological investigations have supported his broader contributions to public understanding of Caribbean prehistory through television documentaries.

Curatorial career

British Museum tenure

Jago Cooper was appointed Head of the Americas in the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas at the British Museum in 2012. He oversaw collections and research related to the Americas. His tenure at the British Museum spanned a decade, during which he served as Head of the Americas until 2021. In that role, he focused on the curation and interpretation of American collections, contributing to scholarly work and public programs before departing to take up the position of Director at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia.

Major exhibitions

Jago Cooper curated several major exhibitions at the British Museum, drawing on his expertise in the archaeology and anthropology of the Americas and Arctic regions. These exhibitions highlight themes of cultural resilience, environmental adaptation, and historical continuity in Indigenous societies. His exhibition Where the Thunderbird Lives: Cultural Resilience on the Northwest Coast of North America ran from 23 February to 27 August 2017. This display explored the ongoing vitality and adaptability of Northwest Coast Indigenous cultures through historical and contemporary artworks, including totem poles, masks, and textiles from the museum's collections alongside loans from communities. Cooper curated the exhibition, emphasizing narratives of resilience in the face of colonialism and environmental change. In 2020, Cooper curated Arctic: culture and climate, which was on view from 22 October 2020 to 21 February 2021. The exhibition presented a long-term perspective on human life in the Arctic, showcasing how Indigenous peoples have navigated climate variations over millennia using artifacts such as tools, clothing, and art from across the circumpolar region. Cooper collaborated with co-curator Amber Lincoln and others to integrate scientific data with cultural objects, underscoring contemporary challenges from rapid climate change. Cooper's most recent major exhibition at the British Museum was Peru: a journey in time, displayed from 11 November 2021 to 20 February 2022. It traced the development of Peruvian civilizations from 3000 BC to the colonial era through over 200 objects, including ceramics, textiles, and goldwork, highlighting innovations in agriculture, metallurgy, and social organization. Cooper co-curated the exhibition with Cecilia Pardo, focusing on the diversity and complexity of Andean societies prior to European contact. These exhibitions reflect Cooper's broader research interests in the Americas and Arctic, connecting ancient practices to modern cultural and environmental concerns.

Television career

Documentary contributions

Jago Cooper has presented and written several television documentaries, primarily for BBC Four, which have brought archaeological perspectives on ancient American civilisations to broad audiences. These programmes often feature him credited as Dr Jago Cooper and draw on his fieldwork expertise to explore lesser-known histories and challenge popular misconceptions. His television debut came with an appearance as a contributing archaeologist in the Channel 4 series Man on Earth in 2009. Cooper gained wider recognition with the four-part BBC Four series Lost Kingdoms of South America in 2013, where he served as presenter to examine the origins, achievements, and nature of various pre-Columbian societies across the continent. In 2014, he wrote and presented Easter Island: Mysteries of a Lost World, using archaeological and scientific evidence to reassess conventional narratives about the island's societal collapse. That same year, he wrote and presented the four-part Lost Kingdoms of Central America, focusing on the diverse ancient cultures of the region. He followed this with the two-part The Inca: Masters of the Clouds in 2015, which investigated the rise and sophistication of the Inca empire. His 2016 series Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest explored the complex societies of indigenous groups along the Pacific Northwest coast.

Publications

Books and edited volumes

Jago Cooper has authored and co-authored several significant books and edited volumes that draw on his expertise in archaeology, environmental history, and museum-based research, often bridging academic scholarship with public-facing outputs related to exhibitions. These works emphasize human adaptations to environmental challenges, cultural heritage in the Americas, and evolving museum practices in a global context. In 2012, Cooper co-edited Surviving Sudden Environmental Change: Answers from Archaeology with Payson D. Sheets, published by the University Press of Colorado. The volume compiles case studies of past societies across diverse regions and time periods that confronted abrupt environmental hazards including volcanic eruptions, droughts, floods, and earthquakes. It highlights the interplay between natural forces and sociocultural decisions in shaping resilience, impact, and recovery, using archaeological evidence to offer lessons for modern disaster management and policy. In 2020, Cooper co-authored Arctic: Culture and Climate with Amber Lincoln and Jan Peter Laurens Loovers, published by Thames & Hudson as the official catalogue for the British Museum exhibition of the same name. The book traces nearly 30,000 years of human habitation in the Circumpolar North, illustrating how Arctic peoples developed ingenious adaptations to thrive amid extreme weather and ongoing environmental shifts, while also addressing the unprecedented transformations driven by contemporary climate change. In 2021, Cooper co-edited Mapping a New Museum: Politics and Practice of Latin American Research with the British Museum with Laura Osorio Sunnucks, published by Routledge. This edited collection documents projects supported by the Santo Domingo Centre of Excellence for Latin American Research at the British Museum, exploring how museums can engage diverse communities, challenge dominant narratives, and incorporate alternative knowledge systems to make collections more relevant globally. Also in 2021, he co-authored Peru: a journey in time with Cecilia Pardo, published by the British Museum Press as the catalogue for the accompanying exhibition. The book examines Peru's rich cultural history from 1500 BC to the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s, focusing on diverse landscapes, key archaeological sites, and artifacts that reveal evolving approaches to agriculture, power, belief, and society.

References

  1. https://research-portal.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/jago-cooper/
  2. https://sainsburycentre.ac.uk/about-us/
  3. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pyfwc
  4. https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/people/2025/07/profile-everyone-was-like-oh-my-god-hes-actually-serious/
  5. https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/jago-e-cooper
  6. https://fondazionescuolapatrimonio.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Cooper-Jago.pdf
  7. https://www.gatescambridge.org/about/news/modern-climate-change-and-the-practice-of-archaeology/
  8. https://www.academia.edu/808006/American_gold_and_European_brass_metal_objects_and_indigenous_values_in_the_cemetery_of_El_Chorro_de_Ma%C3%ADta_Cuba
  9. https://student-journals.ucl.ac.uk/pia/article/id/78/
  10. https://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/samson338
  11. https://www.academia.edu/8939043/Indigenous_cave_use_Isla_de_Mona_Puerto_Rico
  12. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG240504
  13. https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/where-thunderbird-lives
  14. https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/departments/ancient-america-and-oceania/staff/jago-cooper
  15. https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/arctic-culture-and-climate
  16. https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/peru-journey-time
  17. https://www.britishmuseum.org/sites/default/files/2021-09/Peru_exhibition_at_the_British_Museum_press_release.pdf
  18. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3738444/
  19. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03srmm6
  20. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7407950/
  21. https://upcolorado.com/university-press-of-colorado/item/1848-surviving-sudden-environmental-change
  22. https://www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/arctic-culture-and-climate-hardback.html
  23. https://www.routledge.com/Mapping-a-New-Museum-Politics-and-Practice-of-Latin-American-Research-with-the-British-Museum/OsorioSunnucks-Cooper/p/book/9780367754983
  24. https://www.amazon.com/Peru-journey-through-Cecilia-Pardo/dp/0714124915
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