Charles Franklin Wandesforde Higham ONZM (born 1939) is a British-born New Zealand archaeologist most noted for his work in Southeast Asia.

It was here that he developed an interest in archaeology after volunteering to excavate at the Bronze Age site of Snail Down and Arcy sur Cure in France.

During his time at the institute, he excavated at the Roman city of Verulamium, and the Iron Age site of Camp du Charlat in France.

His contemporaries included Colin Renfrew, Barry Cunliffe, Paul Mellars and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Following the completion of his doctorate, Higham accepted a lectureship in archaeology at the University of Otago, and in December 1966 he moved to New Zealand with his family.

In conjunction with many colleagues, he has linked a period of increased aridity with the start of an agricultural revolution that stimulated the rise of early states.

The result identified a series of population movements beginning with the arrival of anatomically modern humans over 50,000 years ago and involving at a later date, the expansion of rice farmers from the Yangtze Valley.