Elinor Wight Gardner (24 September 1892, in Birmingham – 1980), a geology lecturer at

Bedford College, London Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, it became a constituent of the University of London. Having played a leading role in the advancement of women in highe ...

and research fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, is best known for her field surveys with Gertrude Caton–Thompson of the Kharga Oasis which are now recognized as pioneering interdisciplinary research in Africa. In 1925, Caton-Thompson and Gardner began the first archaeological survey of the northern

Faiyum Faiyum ( ; , ) is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum Governorate. It is one of Egypt's oldest cities due to its strategic location. Name and etymology Originally f ...

, where they sought to correlate ancient lake levels with archaeological stratification. They continued working in the Faiyum over the next two years for the

Royal Anthropological Institute The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...

where they discovered two unknown Neolithic cultures. The pair also worked on prehistoric sites at Kharga Oasis in 1930. This led to research more broadly on the palaeolithic of north Africa, which Caton-Thompson published in 1952.

Career

Gardner was educated at Edgbaston High School and took a Natural Science

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

at Newnham College. She was a Cambridge Associate, 1926-1941. Her elder sister was the suffragist and photographer EM Gardner. She was acting professor in 1917-1919 at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

in South Africa, later taking the role of geologist for the

Desert archaeological expeditions, 1926-1928, and then on the Kharga Oasis expedition, 1930-1933. She lectured in geology at

, 1926-1930, and became a research fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, 1930-1936, and a British Federation of University Women senior international research fellow, 1937-1938. She was assistant curator at the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

, 1938-1941, during the war became the director of vegetable production at Lady Margaret Hall and thereafter her positions were in horticulture.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Petrie Museum, UCL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Elinor Wight 1892 births 1980 deaths 20th-century British geologists Academics from Birmingham, West Midlands Academics of Bedford College, London Academic staff of Stellenbosch University Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge British expatriates in Egypt British expatriates in South Africa British women academics British women archaeologists Fellows of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

Career

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Further reading

External links