Breaking Ground may as well have been titled
“Against all Odds,” as the women archaeologists
whose lives and careers we remember here faced innumerable challenges
and difficulties but prevailed to contribute significantly to the
expansion of our knowledge of the ancient world. Most entered this
male dominated field at a time when few educational opportunities
or careers were open to women. They excavated in countries where
traditional, patriarchal societies did not generally allow women
leadership or even public roles. Yet we found English women as early
as the 19th century gaining government permissions to excavate in
Egypt and Greece. We found women traveling alone through deserts
and mountains and gaining acceptance from Bedouin tribes. We found
them directing fieldwork using male workers whose own wives held
subservient roles. The women archaeologists’ rewards were
almost purely intellectual, as many received no (or almost no) compensation
for their demanding jobs, but of adventure there was plenty. Their
activities were arduous, often dangerous, and required determination,
stamina, a love of adventure, and certainly dedication.
This database includes women from many countries (both Eastern
and Western Europe, Australia, and North America) who were, not
only field archaeologists, but also some of whom also taught in
universities or worked as museum curators or archaeological artists
or photographers. A combination of at least two of these skills
is often encountered among them. Yet whenever any of them were on
expeditions they all faced the same deprivations of poor housing,
primitive hygiene, limited food, and long hours in severe weather
sorting or washing pottery, drawing plans, keeping records, and
enduring sandstorms, searing temperatures, or heavy rains. Archaeology
is not glamorous, but it is adventurous and filled with the unexpected.
Such a life makes more demands on the female sex, and it takes a
certain type of woman to persist and succeed. By remembering the
careers of these intelligent and dedicated women, we not only honor
them, but also hope to encourage other women to be drawn to archaeology
as a career so that the human record may continue to be pieced together
in the years ahead.