"Heap of rolled flints in EB" - 1933
Dorothy Garrod (1892-1968) was the first prehistorian and the first woman to be elected to a professorship at Cambridge University. She excavated in Gibraltar, Palestine, Southern Kurdistan, Anatolia, and Bulgaria where she made amazing advances in archaeology, uncovering the skull fragments of a Neanderthal child and established the Natufian culture. As they tell it, the Pitt Rivers Museum received “an old-fashioned leather hat-box with the letters ‘D.G.’ in gold on the front.” Inside was an absolute treasure–Dorothy Garrod’s collection of negatives from her field work. The Pitt Rivers Museum has scanned them all and shared them at The Garrod Collection webpage.
Even if you aren’t a giant history of archaeology nerd, it deserves a look. The photographs are amazing–well-shot and downright delightful, showing a full range of the archaeological experience in the 1920s-1930s. There’s illustrations too!
Dean Harriet M. Alleyn, Dorothy Garrod, Elinor Ewbank, Mary Kitson Clark, Dr. Martha Hackett, (left to right) I can't lie, I wish I was standing in that line of amazing women.
(On envelope) Photos. KH. Qumran(?). Attetatious de Benediction. St. Sepaccre. 1960 (Back)
(On envelope) Photos. KH. Qumran(?). Attetatious de Benediction. St. Sepaccre. 1960 (Back)
Thanks to the Pitt Rivers museum for making this archive available to researchers online!
This is incredibly cool!! Thanks for sharing! – J
Hi there, I am the curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum responsible for scanning Garrod’s negatives and creating the website. Glad you appreciate the work. I agree that the photos are really evocative and important. Let hope some more prehistorians get interested and add to the descriptions of her photos. All the best.
Hello, Chris! I deeply appreciate the work you did on this–it’s such an amazing resource. These small collections are so perfect for sharing and for showing the history of the profession.
Thanks again!