Edited by Joan du Plat Taylor...
A few months ago I wrote this post about Mary Anning, who did some really awesome things like discovering the Plesiosaur in a time when women weren't--at least seen to be--useful for much scientifically. And on Monday we talked about Thonis-Heracleion, and I mentioned the early days of Marine Archaeology. Which is when I stumbled on our topic for today, Joan du Plat Taylor.
Connected posts make me happy.
So, anyway. Joan du Plat Taylor was born in Scotland in 1906. And when sources say she became a Marine Archaeologist despite having no formal training, they mean no formal training. Reportedly Joan's mom wouldn't let her attend school anywhere. Even the normal 'carry a book on your head' kind of finishing school girls went to in the WWI era.
Despite this she was apparently well read--a contemporary said she read her father's books--and scientifically minded. Her father was badly gassed in World War I, and after the war they started spending their winters in Cyprus. Probably so he could actually breathe. Against her mother's wishes she started volunteering in the gift shop at the The Cyprus Museum in Nicosia. By 1932 she'd gone from giving tours and selling knickknacks to becoming the Assistant Curator at the Museum and learning field methods.
She returned to London to live with her mother for the duration of World War II, and served as first an ambulance driver, and then a censor at the Ministry of Information. In 1945, again without any formal training, she became the Librarian at the University of London Museum of Archaeology, and held that position until she retired in 1970. Then, she was a founding member of the Nautical Archaeological Society and also it's first president, and editor of the International Journal for Marine Archaeology from it's inception in 1972 to until 1980.
Long story short, she's considered one of the first ever Marine Archaeologists.
I've got nowhere to go with this, I just thought you'd all like to bask in the awesome with me.
If you've got the time and inclination there's a much longer, academic biography of her here.
Side note: I've referred to her as a Marine Archaeologist here, but if you follow any of those links you're likely to see Nautical Archaeologist, or Maritime Archaeologist. Your guess is as good as mine, whether or not that's mistaken definitions, or non-standardized terminology, or a factor of her early placement in the history of Underwater Archaeology as a thing, or some mix of all three. If you've got a thought I'd love to hear it.
Connected posts make me happy.
So, anyway. Joan du Plat Taylor was born in Scotland in 1906. And when sources say she became a Marine Archaeologist despite having no formal training, they mean no formal training. Reportedly Joan's mom wouldn't let her attend school anywhere. Even the normal 'carry a book on your head' kind of finishing school girls went to in the WWI era.
Despite this she was apparently well read--a contemporary said she read her father's books--and scientifically minded. Her father was badly gassed in World War I, and after the war they started spending their winters in Cyprus. Probably so he could actually breathe. Against her mother's wishes she started volunteering in the gift shop at the The Cyprus Museum in Nicosia. By 1932 she'd gone from giving tours and selling knickknacks to becoming the Assistant Curator at the Museum and learning field methods.
She returned to London to live with her mother for the duration of World War II, and served as first an ambulance driver, and then a censor at the Ministry of Information. In 1945, again without any formal training, she became the Librarian at the University of London Museum of Archaeology, and held that position until she retired in 1970. Then, she was a founding member of the Nautical Archaeological Society and also it's first president, and editor of the International Journal for Marine Archaeology from it's inception in 1972 to until 1980.
Long story short, she's considered one of the first ever Marine Archaeologists.
I've got nowhere to go with this, I just thought you'd all like to bask in the awesome with me.
If you've got the time and inclination there's a much longer, academic biography of her here.
Side note: I've referred to her as a Marine Archaeologist here, but if you follow any of those links you're likely to see Nautical Archaeologist, or Maritime Archaeologist. Your guess is as good as mine, whether or not that's mistaken definitions, or non-standardized terminology, or a factor of her early placement in the history of Underwater Archaeology as a thing, or some mix of all three. If you've got a thought I'd love to hear it.
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