Tessa Verney Wheeler: Women and Archaeology Before World War Two

In this biography, her life is recovered through an examination of her written work, archives, sites, and photographs, as well as through the memories of those who knew her. By means of a discussion of the very personal life and work of one woman, Carr explores the role of women in early British archaeology, resulting in a fascinating picture of a woman and a vivid evocation of the interwar period in London and Wales. From her work retraining colliery navvies as archaeological diggers in Roman amphitheatres on the Welsh borders, to cheap omelettes with her students at the Lyons Corner House on Piccadilly in London, Verney Wheeler crossed social and physical borders with a grace and appeal that remains very palpable today.