Andrée Jeanne Rosenfeld FAHA (1934-2008) was an archaeologist specialising in rock art.

Early life and education

Rosenfeld was born in 1934 in Liège, Belgium, the daughter of the physicists Yvonne and

Léon Rosenfeld Léon Rosenfeld (; 14 August 1904 in Charleroi – 23 March 1974) was a Belgian physicist and Marxist. Rosenfeld was born into a secular Jewish family. He was a polyglot who knew eight or nine languages and was fluent in at least five of the ...

s. After the Second World War the family moved to Manchester. She studied for a BSc in Physics at Bristol University in 1956, where she took up caving. Rosenfeld studied for a Master of Science and then obtained a PhD in 1960 from the Institute of Archaeology, with a thesis on the sedimentology of caves from sites in Devon supervised by Frederick Zeuner. During her postgraduate research she excavated the palaeolithic cave sites in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, Torbryan and Three Holes Cave.

Career

After completing her PhD research she worked at the Institute of Archaeology as Zeuner's research assistant. Her first book, ''The Inorganic Raw Materials of Antiquity'', built upon the technical skills learnt in this period. Rosenfeld was appointed as a curator of Palaeolithic collections at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in 1964, where she was based until 1972, and guest-lectured at the Department of Anthropology, UCL. During the 1960s she worked at Arcy-sur-Curé alongside Leroi-Gourhan. She was considered as a European expert in archaeological science and provided advice on microscopic study of use-wear. She undertook research on the Magdalenian artefacts within the British Museum's collections. In 1972 she moved to Australia, with her partner

Peter Ucko Peter John Ucko FRAI FSA (27 July 1938 – 14 June 2007) was an influential English archaeologist. He served as Director of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London (UCL), and was a Fellow of both the Royal Anthropological ...

, where she taught at the recently established Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

(ANU) from 1973. During her time at ANU, Rosenfeld commenced several crucial projects for the development of Australian archaeology, where she applied her previous scientific training and research experiences. Her excavations at the Early Man Site in Cape York Peninsula, Queensland provided the first evidence that rock art in Australia was

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

in date, and made the methodological development of linking excavated evidence with rock art, described as a "milestone in the establishment of rock art research in Australia". Her 1985 book, commissioned by the

Australian Heritage Commission The Australian Heritage Commission (AHC), was the Australian federal government authority established in 1975 by the ''Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975'' as the first body to manage natural and cultural heritage in Australia until its de ...

, was the founding study of rock art conservation in Australia. Rosenfeld's scholarship focused on both methodological and theoretical interpretations of rock art, and research in the late 1990s focused on the social context of rock art. Her teaching career at ANU included establishing courses in the archaeology of art and material culture, and she is noted for incorporating ethnography into the study of art. During her career she held visiting fellowships at the

Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".

in Los Angeles in 1988, and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1989. She retired from her position as Reader at ANU in 1997, and moved to Rathdowney in Queensland where she enjoyed an active retirement. She died from pancreatic cancer in 2008.

Legacy

Her major contribution in archaeology was in the field of rock art research, and the application of scientific techniques to the study of art. Rosenfeld was described as a “rigorous and generous scholar, and a lovely, gentle person” and “an enthusiastic and accomplished teacher”. She taught a number of students who became leading archaeologists, such as Jo McDonald, Paul Tacon, Howard Morphy, Robert Layton, and Claire Smith. Through her supervision of postgraduate students, a flourishing of rock art research took place in Australia in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Honours and awards

The Andrée Rosenfeld Chair of Rock Art was established at ANU in recognition of her service to the university. A portrait of Andrée by

Robin Wallace-Crabbe Robin Wallace-Crabbe (born 1938, Melbourne) has been actively involved in the Australian arts scene since the 1960s as a curator of exhibitions, literary reviewer, cartoonist, illustrator, book designer, publisher and a commenter on art. He is ...

and Diane Fogwell is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. Rosenfeld was elected as a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

''.''

Early life and education

Career

Legacy

Honours and awards

References

Further reading