Shadreck Chirikure is Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford where he also holds a British Academy Global Professorship.

As an archaeological scientist Chirikure applies techniques from the hard sciences to study ancient materials and technologies. He uses the results of discoveries in the field and the laboratory to develop new understanding of materials and societies that produced and used them, conserve heritage and to tackle global challenges. Funded by the Ronald Tylecote Fund of the Institute for Archaeometallurgical Studies, English Heritage and the Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Chirikure graduated with the degrees of PhD in Archaeology and MA in Artefact Studies from the Institute of Archaeology, UCL.

He is the author of Metals in Past Societies (Springer) and is a co-Editor of the journal Archaeometry.