Olga Tufnell

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Olga Tufnell
Wellcome Foundation

Olga Tufnell

FSA (26 January 1905 – 11 April 1985) was a British archaeologist who assisted on the excavation of the ancient city of Lachish in the 1930s. She had no formal training in archaeology, but had worked as a secretary for Flinders Petrie for a number of years before being given a field assignment. Olga then went on to join James Leslie Starkey
in the expedition to find Lachish in 1929 and remained part of the team for the following seasons.

When Starkey was killed in 1938, the team finished the season then closed the site. Olga volunteered to write up the report of the dig and spent the following twenty years researching and writing up the majority of the excavation report. Olga's work has been regarded as the "pre-eminent source book for Palestinian archeology". Once the report was published, she turned her attention to cataloguing scarabs and other seals.

Many of Olga Tufnell's original letters and photographs are housed today at the Palestine Exploration Fund in London. Those published from 1927-1938[1] provide insights into dig life and archaeology, as well as the wider socio-cultural, political, and gendered context of colonial life within Mandate-era Palestine.

Early life

Olga Tufnell was born on 26 January 1905 in Sudbury, Suffolk to a prominent landholding family.[2][3] Her father, Beauchamp Le Fevre Tufnell had been a second lieutenant in the 4th Battalion of Essex Regiment,[4] and her mother, Blanche, maintained a broad range of cultural interests,[5] as well as working with the Anglo-Czech Society.[6] Olga was a middle child with two brothers, Joliffe Gilbert Tufnell and Louis de Saumarez Tufnell.[7] She spent her early life in Little Waltham, and was educated at schools in London and Belgium before going to finishing school in Italy.[6]

When Olga had completed her time at the finishing school in 1922, she went to help her mother's close friend Hilda Petrie and her husband Sir Flinders Petrie, with an exhibition of their recent finds at University College London, before taking on a secretarial role at the British School of Archaeology in Egypt.[6] She held the position of Hilda Petrie's secretary for five years, though she described it as "dull and repetitive work" in fundraising,[8] but also spent some time drawing and repairing pottery.[6] Olga's work evidently impressed Sir Flinders who, at the end of 1927, offered her an opportunity to assist him in the field in 1928.[8]

Expeditions

Although Sir Flinders himself did not join the expedition in 1929, he sent Olga with a group of other archaeologists to

Tell el-'Ajjul, Olga discovered a Hyksos tomb which included a horse burial.[6]

In 1932, Starkey secured funding from Charles Marston and

Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.[10] The remaining team finished during the 1938/9 season, then closed the site. Olga wrote the final report.[11]

Return to London

The

air raid warden.[10]

At the end of the war, she returned to her work on the report. She controversially published findings that held that the time period between two occupational levels, Level II (preceding

Nebuchadnezzar) and Level III (preceding Assyrian conquest by Sennacherib) was likely to be in the range of 100 years, rather than a decade, as Starkey had suggested.[12] Although the majority held that Starkey's interpretation was more likely, in 1973 subsequent excavations vindicated her opinion.[13]

In 1951, Olga became a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. She was proud of this award and called it one of her "greatest achievements".[14] Olga continued to study and to write up the Lachish report for 20 years,[15] with the final publication (Lachish IV) in 1957.[14] Whilst writing the report, she dealt with requests related to the excavation, including distributing the Lachish finds and sending some "unwanted pots" to a school museum.[11] The multi-volume report was described as the "pre-eminent source book for Palestinian archaeology".[14]

Later life

Once the full report had been published, Olga turned her attention to the study of

University of Tel Aviv. There she was greeted by 200 local archaeologists,[14] who welcomed her enthusiastically.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Olga Tufnell's 'Perfect Journey'". UCL Press. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  2. ^ Burke, Bernard (1871). A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. London: Harrison. p. 1417.
  3. JSTOR 41662184
    .
  4. ^ Infantry (PDF). The London Gazette. 23 January 1891. p. 422.
  5. ^ MacDermot, John. "Olga Tufnell: Exploring Egypt and Palestine". Trowel Blazers. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  6. ^
    doi:10.1179/peq.1986.118.1.1
    .
  7. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur, ed. (1895). Armorial Families: A directory of gentlemen of coat-armour (7th ed.). London: Hurst & Blackett. p. 980.
  8. ^
    doi:10.1179/peq.1982.114.2.81
    .
  9. ^ "Girl's Experiences in Palestine: "Doctor" and Fairy Godmother: Looking after native helpers on expedition". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 2 August 1933.
  10. ^
    doi:10.1179/lev.1986.18.1.1
    .
  11. ^
    ISBN 086159-161-5
    . Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  12. ^ Geraty, Lawrence T. (1987). "Archaeology and the Bible at Hezekiah's Lachish". Andrews University Seminary Studies. 25 (1). Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  13. ISBN 978-0-664-25392-9
    . Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Guttmann, William, ed. (November 1983). "Palestine Archaeology Displayed" (PDF). Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) Information. 38 (11): 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  15. ^ Ussishkin, David (1978). "Lachish Renewed Archaeological Excavations: Lachish and the Previous Excavations" (PDF). Penn Museum. p. 18. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  16. ^ "Miss Olga Tufnell". The Times. 22 April 1985.
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