Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Garrod, CBE, FBA (5 May 1892 – 18 December 1968) was an English

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

who specialised in the

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

period. She held the position of Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge from 1939 to 1952, and was the first woman to hold a chair at either

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Early life and education

Garrod was the daughter of the physician Sir Archibald Garrod and Laura Elizabeth Smith, daughter of the surgeon Sir Thomas Smith, 1st Baronet. She was born in Chandos Street, London, and was educated at home. Her first teacher was Isabel Fry as governess. Garrod recalled Fry teaching her, at age nine, in

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.Walter Jessop. She later attended Birklands School in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

. Pamela Jane Smith writes of Garrod as follows: "Garrod was a solid member of Britain's intellectual aristocracy. Her father, Sir Archibald Garrod, had been Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford and is regarded as the founder of biochemical genetics; her grandfather was Sir Alfred Garrod of King's College Hospital, Physician Extraordinary to Queen Victoria and a leading authority on rheumatic diseases." Garrod entered

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

in 1913, where she read ancient and classical history before archaeology was available as a subject, completing the course in 1916. By the time of her graduation in 1916 she had lost two brothers, Lt Alfred Noel Garrod and Lt Thomas Martin Garrod. Both were killed in action in WW I. Her third brother, Lt Basil Rahere died in France from Spanish influenza prior to demobilisation. It is rumoured that she lost her fiancé. She volunteered with the Catholic Women's League until 1919. She subsequently travelled to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, where her father was working as the Head of War Hospitals, and began to take an interest in the local antiquities. Considerable disagreement exists over the date in which she become a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

convert but Garrod apparently converted to Catholicism prior to coming up to Cambridge.

Career

On her family's return to England, where they settled in

, Garrod read for a graduate diploma in Anthropology in 1921. It is clear from her lecture notes, which survive at Museum Antiquities Nationale, that the Diploma course was an intensive introduction to both archaeology and anthropology. She was taught by Robert Ranulph Marett, a Reader in Social Anthropology and an experienced excavator. She received a distinction on graduating in 1921, as one among a small number of female students. She had found an intellectual vocation: the archaeology of the Palaeolithic Age. Pamela Janes Smith discovered that Garrod states later as a tribute to him that "Marett the genial colleague, the brilliant talker, the beloved friend." Smith discovered that Mrs Chitty, née Mary Kitson Clark, one of Garrod's companions, during the Mount Carmel excavation of 1929, in an interview, that Garrod "experienced her conversion to prehistory with a religious depth of feeling ..The determination to be a prehistorian and particularly in the Stone Age, came over her in one second, like a conversion." It was Marrett that introduced her to France and M. l' Abbé Breuil, her intellectual father. Garrod studied for two years, 1922 to 1924, with M. l'Abbé Breuil, the prehistorian, at the Institut de Paleontologie Humaine in Paris. Smith argues that Garrod's interest in the origin, distribution and classification of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic assemblages; her fascination with the questions of the origin of the modern humans and the demise of the Neanderthals; the concern with relative dating by geochronology and her declaration that "Europe was only after all a peninsula of Africa and Asia" (Clarke 1999:409) could be interpreted as Garrod being the intellectual child of the Abbé Breuil". In 1926, Garrod published her first academic work, ''The Upper Paleolithic of Britain'', for which she was awarded a B.Sc. degree by the University of Oxford.K. M. Price, 2009
One vision, one faith, one woman: Dorothy Garrod and the crystallisation of prehistory
In R. Hosfield, F. F. Wenban-Smith and M. Pope (eds): Great Prehistorians: 150 Years of Palaeolithic Research, 1859–2009 (Special Volume 30 of ''Lithics: The Journal of the Lithic Studies Society''):x–y. Lithic Studies Society, London. Following an invitation from Breuil, she investigated Devil's Tower Cave, a site over a period of seven months in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

between 1925 and 1927. It was only 350 metres from Forbes' Quarry, where a

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

skull had been found earlier. Garrod discovered in this cave in 1925, a second important Neanderthal skull now called Gibraltar 2. It was her first internationally recognized excavation. Garrod was to find many anomalous skeletons during her ensuring career, but the skull did not fit within the definition of Neanderthal. In 1928, she led the first expedition to enter South

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

. She was looking for evidence of Palaeolithic people migrating between Upper Mesopotamia and Syria. This work led to the test explorations of Hazar Merd Cave and Zarzi cave. In 1929, Garrod was appointed to direct excavations at Wadi el-Mughara at

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...

in Mandatory Palestine, as a joint project of the American School of Prehistoric Research and the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem. The series of 12 extensive fieldseasons was completed between 1929 and 1934. The results established a chronological framework that remains crucial to present understanding of that prehistoric period. Working closely with

Dorothea Bate Dorothea Minola Alice Bate (8 November 1878 – 13 January 1951), also known as Dorothy Bate, was a Welsh palaeontologist and pioneer of archaeozoology. Her life's work was to find fossils of recently extinct mammals with a view to understandi ...

, she demonstrated a long sequence of

Lower Palaeolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears ...

Middle Palaeolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle P ...

and

Epipalaeolithic In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are someti ...

occupations in the caves of Tabun, El-Wad, Es-Skhul,

Shuqba Shuqba () is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located 17 kilometers northwest of the city of Ramallah in Palestinian National Authority, Palestine. Shuqba has a total area of , and the built-up area comprises . Shuqba ...

(Shuqbah) and

Kebara Cave Kebara Cave (, ) is a limestone cave locality in Wadi Kebara, situated at above sea level on the western escarpment of the Carmel Range, in the Ramat HaNadiv preserve of Zichron Yaakov. History The cave was inhabited between 60,000 and 48,0 ...

. She also coined the cultural label for the late Epipalaeolithic

Natufian culture The Natufian culture ( ) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentism, sedentary or semi-sedentary population even befor ...

(from Wadi Natuf, the location of the Shuqba cave) following her excavations at Es-Skhul and El-Wad. Her excavations at the cave sites in the Levant were conducted with almost exclusively women workers recruited from local villages, such as Jeba and Ljsim. One of these women, Yusra, is credited with the discovery of the Tabun 1 Neanderthal skull. The villages of Jeba and Ljsim were destroyed in 1948 and most members of the Palestinian team could not be traced. In 1937, Garrod published ''The Stone Age of Mount Carmel,'' considered a ground-breaking work in the field. In 1938, she travelled to Bulgaria and excavated the Palaeolithic cave of Bacho Kiro. After holding academic positions, including Newnham College's Director of Studies for Archaeology and Anthropology, she became the Disney Professor of Archaeology at Cambridge on 6 May 1939, a post she held until 1952. Her appointment was greeted with excitement by women students and a "college feast" was held in her honour at Newnham, in which every dish was named after an archaeological item. In addition, the ''Cambridge Review'' reported, "The election of a woman to the Disney Professorship of Archaeology is an immense step forward towards complete equality between men and women in the University." Gender equality at the University of Cambridge at the time was still remote: as a woman, Garrod could not be a full member of the university, so that she was excluded from speaking or voting on University matters. This continued to apply until 1948, when women became full members of the university. From 1941 to 1945, Garrod took leave of absence from the university and served in the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during the World War II, Second World War. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak ...

(WAAF) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She was based at the RAF Medmenham photographic interpretation unit as a section officer (equivalent in rank to

flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

). After the war, Garrod returned to her position and made changes to the department, including the introduction of a module of study on world prehistory. Where previously prehistory had been considered particularly French or European, Garrod expanded the subject to a global scale. Garrod also made changes to the structure of archaeology studies, so turning Cambridge into the first British university to offer undergraduate courses in prehistoric archaeology. During the university summer vacations, Garrod travelled to France and excavated at two important sites: Fontéchevade cave, with Germaine Henri-Martin, and Angles-sur-l'Anglin, with Suzanne de St. Mathurin.

Later life

On her retirement in 1952, Garrod moved to France, but continued to research and excavate. In 1958, aged 66, she excavated on the Aadloun headland in Lebanon, with the assistance of Diana Kirkbride. The following year she was asked urgently to excavate at Ras El Kelb, as a significant cave had been disturbed by road and rail construction. Henri-Martin and de St. Mathurin assisted Garrod for seven weeks, with the remaining material being removed to the National Museum of Beirut for more detailed study. She returned to Aadloun again in 1963, with a team of younger archaeologists, but her health began to fail and she was often absent from the sites. Garrod appeared as a panellist in a 1959 episode of the game show '' Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?'' held at the

Musée de l'Homme The Musée de l'Homme (; literally "Museum of Mankind" or "Museum of Humanity") is an anthropology museum in Paris, France. It was established in 1937 by Paul Rivet for the 1937 ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moder ...

. In the summer of 1968, Garrod had a stroke while visiting relatives in Cambridge. She died in a nursing home there on 18 December, aged 76.

Professorship

Garrod was the first female professor at Cambridge and was instrumental in changing it into an integrated institution. As a result of her election to Professorship, women were granted full membership, and allowed to graduate with degrees from the University of Cambridge. She worked mainly with women as she lived in a segregated English society. In Palestine she was treated as member of the British ruling class and deeply loved by Palestinians. Garrod's relationships with her Arab neighbours and employees "were warm. Garrod was often invited to weddings or other celebratory occasions. "She was called Sitt Miriam, Lady Mary.". Her Mount Carmel expedition crew, which covered all of the excavations (Skhul, Kebara, el-Wad and et-Tabun), consisted mostly of local Arab women. Garrod was in complete charge of the many long-term excavations at Mount Carmel. In 1931, Francis Turville Petre, an openly gay man, participated very briefly in her excavations of Mount Carmel as part of Garrod's team at Skhul. Francis Turville-Petre had discovered an ancient cranium at Mugharet ex-Zuttiyeh, near the Sea of Galilee, considered to be the most remarkable prehistoric archaeological event of the 1920s in Western Asia.

Awards and recognition

In 1937, Garrod was awarded Honorary Doctorates from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

and a DSc. from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. She was elected a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

in 1952, and in 1965 she was awarded the CBE. She felt it was important that archaeologists travel and therefore left money to found the Dorothy Garrod Travel Fund. In 1968, the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

presented her with its gold medal. From September 2011 to January 2012, 17 photographs of Garrod's of excavations, friends and mentors were displayed in 'A Pioneer of Prehistory, Dorothy Garrod and the Caves of Mount Carmel' at the

Pitt Rivers Museum Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed ...

. In 2017, Newnham College announced that a new college building will be named after Garrod. In 2019, the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge unveiled a new portrait of Garrod by artist Sara Levelle.Retrieved 13 November 2019.
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References

External links

The Dorothy Garrod photographic archive at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrod, Dorothy 1892 births 1968 deaths 20th-century British archaeologists 20th-century English archaeologists 20th-century English women 20th-century British women scientists Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford Disney Professors of Archaeology Fellows of the British Academy Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Women's Auxiliary Air Force officers English prehistorians People associated with the Pitt Rivers Museum British women archaeologists British women scientists British scientists Archaeologists of the Near East Natufian culture English Roman Catholics