Category: Women in Archaeology
By Megan Williams
March 8, 2023
Elsie Jury
International Women’s Day In celebration of another International Women’s Day, Ember Archaeology would like to share the life and accomplishments of another impressive archaeologist, Elsie McLeod Murray Jury. Known for being a trowel blazer in the understanding of historical archaeology in Ontario, Elsie Jury worked at many archaeological sites across the province and helped to
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By Alyssa Hamza
March 8, 2022
Mary Vaux Walcott
To celebrate International Women’s Day (March 8th, 2022), I want to share the accomplishments of Mary Vaux Walcott (1860 – 1940). Early Life Mary Vaux was born into a prominent Quaker family in Philadelphia on July 31, 1860. She was the eldest of the Vaux’s three children. The Quakers valued the devotion to God, modesty
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By Madeline Coleman
March 8, 2021
Cecily Margaret Guido (Peggy Piggott)
Books and movies, like The Dig (author John Preston and director Simon Stone), reintroduce us to people in our archaeological history that have either been forgotten or downplayed by societal norms of the time. They encourage us to dig into the past to discover who these people were, and how they contributed to the advancement
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By Brian Leslie
March 6, 2020
Harriet Boyd Hawes
To celebrate International Women’s Week, I present Harriet Boyd Hawes (1871 to 1945), a pioneer in the field of classical Greek archaeology. Her anthropological approach to fieldwork and the understanding of past lives were well ahead of the times and helped the discipline move away from arm-chair studies focused on high status artifacts and museum
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By Corey Cookson
March 8, 2019
Birgitta Wallace
In honour of International Women’s day we will explore the life and studies of Birgitta Wallace. She is a Swedish-Canadian female archaeologist and expert on Norse archaeology in North America. Born in 1944, Birgitta Wallace studied and received her degree in her home country, Sweden. She studied at Uppsala University and underwent field training in
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By Madeline Coleman
March 9, 2018
Tree Time Gals!
International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to talk about women in our past that have paved the way in some fashion. Without the Famous Five women would not have been recognized as persons in Canada as early as we were. Women like Zelia Nuttal, challenged the norm and pursued something she truly loved, expanding our
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By Teresa Tremblay
March 7, 2018
Mary Townsend Sharpless Schäffer
Have you been to Maligne Lake? If so, you’ve seen some of Mary Schäffer’s work, for her survey of Maligne Lake was used when the area was incorporated into the Jasper National Park. In 1911, Mary was asked to survey Maligne Lake by the Geographical Board and Geological Survey of Canada. This was incredibly unusual
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By Britt Romano
March 5, 2018
Zelia Nuttall
Zelia Nuttall was a prominent anthropologist specializing in Mexican archaeology during the Victorian Era. This was a time when archaeology wasn’t as firmly established as a discipline and it definitely wasn’t considered as a suitable career choice for women. ‘Appropriate’ work for women was typically connected to the domestic realm and included jobs like serving,
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By Madeline Coleman
March 9, 2017
Thanadelthur
The next woman we draw attention to is Thanadelthur, whose skills and guidance were essential to establishing a peace treaty between the Dene and the Cree. This, in turn, allowed the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) to expand further north, and bring trade to the Dene. Thanadelthur was a Chipewyan Dene, born in the late 17th
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By Madeline Coleman
March 8, 2017
The Famous Five
We would be remiss if we didn’t bring up the Famous Five who worked on the “Persons Case” to see women recognized as persons under the British North America Act. These women are Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Irene Parlby, and Louise McKinney, all of whom made Alberta their home at some point
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