Alison Betts

Betts was born and raised in Scotland.[3] She is the daughter of Ursula Graham Bower, an anthropologist, and Frederick Nicholson Betts, an army officer and ornithologist, and has a sister, Catriona. She studied at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, a Master of Arts (MA) degree, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.[4] Her doctoral thesis was submitted in 1986 and was titled "The prehistory of the basalt desert, Transjordan: an analysis".[5]

In 1986, Betts joined the University of Edinburgh as a British Academy Teaching Fellow. In 1989, she moved to the Queen's University, Belfast, where she worked as a research fellow. In 1991, she was appointed a lecturer in Levantine archaeology at the University of Sydney.[4] By 2010, she had been promoted to senior lecturer.[3] In 2012, she was appointed Professor of Silk Road Studies.[1][2]

Betts has excavated in the Near East and in Central Asia, including directing excavations in Eastern Jordan, in Uzbekistan, and in Xinjiang, China.[2][3] Her research is mainly focused on the Bronze Age, archaeology of the Levant, archaeology of the Silk Roads, and nomadic pastoralism of the Near East.[4][1]

In August 2016, Betts gave that year's Petrie Oration on "Kingship and the Gods in Ancient Khorezm: new light on the early history of Zoroastrianism";[6] the Petrie Oration is an "annual public lecture sponsored by the Australian Institute of Archaeology on ancient world archaeology".[7]

In 2010, Betts was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA), the top learned academy in Australia for the humanities.[4] On 13 October 2016, she was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA).[8]

• Khozhaniyazou, G.; Helms, S.; Betts, A. (2006). The military architecture of ancient Chorasmia. Paris: De Boccard. ISBN 978-2701801964.
• Betts, A. V. G.; Cropper, D.; Martin, L.; McCartney, C. (2013). The Later Prehistory of the Badia: Excavations and Surveys in Eastern Jordan. Oxford: Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1842174739.
• Betts, A.; Kidd, F., eds. (2015). Buddhist Iconography of Northern Bactria. New Delhi: Manohar Publications. ISBN 978-9350980972.