World-Renowned Archaeologist Professor David Wengrow Visits UHK
(Why) Do We Need a New History of Humanity? This question was at the heart of an inspiring lecture delivered on 30 October 2026 at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Hradec Králové by Professor David Wengrow of University College London, co-author of the global bestseller The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. Speaking to a packed lecture hall, Professor Wengrow presented a fresh perspective on the history of human societies, challenging traditional assumptions about the emergence of civilisations, inequality and social hierarchies.
History Does Not Have to Be a Story of Inevitable Progress
David Wengrow is one of the most prominent and original voices in contemporary social sciences and humanities. As an archaeologist, he has long focused on the ancient civilisations of Egypt and the Near East. However, his work extends well beyond the traditional boundaries of archaeology, engaging with anthropology and social theory. He gained international recognition particularly through The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (2021), co-authored with David Graeber. His other works, including What Makes Civilization? (2010) and The Origins of Monsters (2014), also bring archaeology into dialogue with other disciplines, such as anthropology, history and political philosophy. They demonstrate how our understanding of the distant past can fundamentally reshape the way we think about contemporary society and the alternatives available to us.
During his lecture and the discussion that followed, Professor Wengrow showed the Hradec Králové audience why it is important to rethink traditional historical narratives about the development of human societies. The history of humanity, he argued, does not necessarily follow a single, universal path of social development. On the contrary, it reveals a remarkable diversity of ways in which people throughout history have organised their societies, shaped power relations and made decisions about how to live together. This perspective also opens up space for reflection on today's political and social structures.
Professor David Wengrow's visit to the Philosophical Faculty of UHK thus brought not only an innovative perspective on contemporary archaeological research, but also a broader interdisciplinary discussion on human society, freedom and the possibilities of organising our collective lives.
The lecture was part of the Hradec University Lectures series and was organised in cooperation with the 30th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival.
