James Fraser

James Fraser (often styled Jamie Fraser) is an Australian archaeologist specializing in the Bronze Age Levant. Since October 2023, he has served as Dorot Director of the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in East Jerusalem. He previously held the position of Curator for the Ancient Levant and Anatolia at the British Museum, where he curated the 2023 exhibition Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece.

Early life and education Fraser earned his Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Sydney in 2016. His doctoral dissertation was later published as the monograph *Dolmens in the Levant* (2018), which received the prestigious G. Ernest Wright Award for Best Archaeological Publication.

Research and publications Fraser’s research focuses on megalithic dolmens, early Bronze Age economies, and Levantine ceramic and architectural traditions. Fraser has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kashmir, Greece, Cambodia, Australia, and the Solomon Islands.

Fraser has directed—and continues to direct—a British Museum excavation project at Khirbet Um al‑Ghozlan in Jordan, investigating a 4,500‑year‑old Early Bronze IV olive oil factory. For this, he received the 2019 Charles Harris Grant from ASOR.