Edith Eccles (8 October 1910 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

– 24 June 1977) was a British classical archaeologist who did work at the

British School at Athens The British School at Athens (BSA; ) is an institute for advanced research, one of the eight British International Research Institutes supported by the British Academy, that promotes the study of Greece in all its aspects. Under UK law it is a reg ...

and worked with Sir

Arthur Evans Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. The first excavations at the Minoan palace of Knossos on the List of islands of Greece, Gree ...

Knossos Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

in the 1930s. She studied at

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

Career

During the 1930s she was a friend of Mercy Money-Coutts who worked and travelled with her in Greece and beyond. She remained active after the diagnosis of

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

that ultimately ended her life. In 1935, Eccles assisted the archaeologist

Spyridon Marinatos Spyridon Marinatos (; – 1 October 1974) was a Greek archaeologist who specialised in the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations of the Aegean Bronze Age. He is best known for the excavation of the Minoan site of Akrotiri on Thera, which he ...

with excavations at the cave sanctuary of Arkalochori. She maintained a strong professional relationship with Marinatos throughout her life, which is documented through letters published in 2015. In 1936, Eccles attended

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

as the Mary Paul Collins Fellow in Archaeology. At that time, she worked on illustrations for

's publication of their excavations at Knossos. Eccles studied Greek Archaeology under Mary Hamilton Swindler, whilst researching gems and seal stones of the

Late Minoan Minoan chronology is a framework of dates used to divide the history of the Minoan civilization. Two systems of relative chronology are used for the Minoans. One is based on sequences of pottery styles, while the other is based on the architect ...

and Mycenean periods.

Selected works

*Eccles, Edith. "The Seals and Sealings." ''Annual of the British School at Athens'' vol. 40(1940): 43–49. *Hutchinson, R. W., Edith Eccles and

Sylvia Benton Sylvia Benton FSA, FSA Scot (18 August 1887 – 12 September 1985) was a British classical archaeologist, best known for her work on ancient Greece and the Sculptor's Cave in Moray, Scotland. Benton was elected a Fellow of the Society o ...

. "Unpublished Objects from Palaikastro and Praisos. II." ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'', vol. 40(1939): 38–59

References

British classical archaeologists Academics from Liverpool Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Deaths from multiple sclerosis People with multiple sclerosis Neurological disease deaths in the United Kingdom 1910 births 1977 deaths Bryn Mawr College alumni English archaeologists Minoan archaeologists Archaeologists of the Bronze Age Aegean 20th-century British archaeologists British women archaeologists British scientists with disabilities {{UK-archaeologist-stub