Amanda Adams 
Ladies of the Field 
Early Women Archaeologists and Their Search for Adventure

The first women archaeologists were Victorian era adventurers who felt most at home when farthest from it. Canvas tents were their domains, hot Middle Eastern deserts their gardens of inquiry and labor. Thanks to them, prevailing ideas about feminine nature — soft, nurturing, submissive — were upended.
Ladies of the Field tells the story of seven remarkable women, each a pioneering archaeologist, each headstrong, smart, and courageous, who burst into what was then a very young science.
Amanda Adams takes us with them as they hack away at underbrush under a blazing sun, battle swarms of biting bugs, travel on camelback for weeks on end, and feel the excitement of unearthing history at an archaeological site.
Adams also reveals the dreams of these extraordinary women, their love of the field, their passion for holding the past in their hands, their fascination with human origins, and their utter disregard for convention.

Table of Content

Field Notes




The Nile’s Grand Dame

Amelia Edwards (1831-1892)

Noah’s Ark – A good poem by 7 – No one to say no – the Dolomites – Lady ‘L’ – Voyaging on the Nile – Pyramids and other wonders – Abu Simbel – Responding to a threat – Egyptology – The fund – To break a leg – Revelations




All Dressed Up in a Man’s Suit

Jane Dieulafoy (1851-1916)

In a man’s suit – Tomboy – Meeting Marcel – Being a solider – Partnership – The first excavations – Persia – The Lion Frieze and glory of Susa – Rejection – Paris saloons and a yawn – Down south – Writing about it all – Back to the field – Fever – On being married




Mexico’s Archaeological Queen

Zelia Nuttall (1857-1933)

Queening at the table – Gold Rush – A special picture book – Alphonse and Nadine – Terracotta heads – The big fair – Mr. Boas – Casa Alvarado – Lost things – The Island of Sacrificios – Fury – Fame – A return to light




Oh, Desert Tiger!

Gertrude Bell (1868-1926)

Catching the eye of a star – Growing up with gardens – Family matters and letters home – School days – Languages and leaving – The field – Pretty things – Petra – Days melt like snow – (lost) Love – Death and reflections on adventure




Just Like a Volcano

Harriet Boyd Hawes (1871-1945)

Inside a volcano – Athens by bicycle – Nursing – Across the wine dark sea – Digging in Crete – Donkeys at a Trot – Gournia – The Headhunter – Now, the kitchen – Babies & books – A rumbling wake




Archaeology’s Big Detective

Agatha Christie (1890-1976)

M is for mystery – Girls? They should run wild – Ashfield – Coming out in Cairo – Mrs. Christie – Around the world – The bad year – Vanished – Orient Express – Meeting Max – Le Camping – Khabur Valley – A detective’s eye – Tell me




Like a Glass of Stony White Wine

Dorothy Garrod (1892-1968)

Archaeology’s new voice – family of science – three brothers – Abbé Breuil – Human origins – A tiny skull in her hands – Mount Carmel – Sherry Sabbath – Deafening! – Hello Cambridge – Ancient beaches – The Amazons have broken down the gates at last



Excavations

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Recommended Reading

Acknowledgments

About the author

Amanda Adams is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of British Columbia. She is the author of one previous work of nonfiction,
A Mermaid’s Tale: A Personal Search for Love and Lore.