David Gaimster

David Richard Michael Gaimster is a British archaeologist and museum executive. During the 1990s, Gaimster published extensively on medieval to early modern European archaeology, notably on ceramics and Hanseatic material culture, including the 1997 book German Stoneware, 1200–1900: Archaeology and Cultural History. Gaimster became the director of the Hunterian at the University of Glasgow from 2010 to 2017, after which he moved to New Zealand, becoming the director of the Auckland War Memorial Museum from 2017 to 2023. Gaimster was the director of the South Australian Museum in Adelaide, South Australia, in 2023 to 2024.

Early life and education David Gaimster was born and raised in Cambridge, England, where he developed an interest in archaeology as a young child.

In 1984 he graduated from Durham University with a BA.

In 1991 In 1991 while working at the museum, Gaimster received a PhD from University College London. From 2002 to 2004, Gaimster worked as a senior policy advisor for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, when he worked on measures to prevent trafficking of cultural objects through market reduction approach laws. During his time at the museum, he oversaw the construction of Te Ao Mārama, a redevelopment of the south atrium space, and managed the museum during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June 2023, Gaimster moved to Adelaide to take up the position of the director of the South Australian Museum, but stepped down from that role at the end of 2024. In June 2025, Gaimster returned to London to take up the position of the director of Strawberry Hill House.

Recognition and honours 1996: Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London

2005: SHA Award of Merit by the Society for Historical Archaeology, for his work in historical archaeology

2016: Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 2019: Appointed honorary adjunct professor at the University of Auckland, in Museum and Cultural Heritage

Selected publications Books

Chapters

Articles