Mary Grace Simpson (12 November 1920 – 8 February 2007) was a British archaeologist and museum curator specialising in the study of

Roman ceramics Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It is found all over the former Roman Empire and beyond. Monte Testaccio is a huge mound, waste mound in Rome made almost entirely of broken amphorae us ...

, especially

Samian ware Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red Ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface slips made in specific areas of t ...

Biography

Early life

Simpson spent her early years in Newcastle, where her father F. G. Simpson was Director of Archaeological Field Research and went to school at Penrhos College. She served as a nurse during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Career

After the war, Simpson studied at

UCL Institute of Archaeology UCL's Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of the Social & Historical Sciences Faculty of University College London (UCL) which it joined in 1986 having previously been a school of the University of London. It is currently one o ...

, graduating with a Diploma in European Archaeology in 1948. Her fellow students included

Nancy Sandars Nancy Katharine Sandars, (29 June 1914 – 20 November 2015) was a British archaeologist and prehistorian. As an independent scholar—she was never a university academic—she wrote a number of books and a popular translation of the ''Epic of ...

and Edward Pyddoke. Between 1950 and 1954 she was a research assistant to

Eric Birley Eric Barff Birley, Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

. Between 1950 and 1972 Simpson was the Honorary Curator of the Clayton Collection of antiquities at

Chesters Roman fort Cilurnum or Cilurvum was a fort on Hadrian's Wall mentioned in the ''Notitia Dignitatum''. It is now identified with the fort found at Chesters (also known as Walwick Chesters to distinguish it from other sites named Chesters in the vicinity) ...

. She undertook postgraduate study at

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

and was awarded her

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from Oxford in 1960. The subject of this thesis was published in 1964 as ''Britons and the Roman Army: A Study of Wales and the Southern Pennines in the 1st-3rd Centuries''. She taught at Oxford for the Department of Extra-Mural Studies and was a visiting fellow at

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

, Pennsylvania. Simpson's study of the late Joseph Stanfield's investigations into samian ware resulted in the 1958 publication of ''Central Gaulish Potters'', which remains an essential work for the study of the subject more than fifty years on. She was one of the early member of the

Rei cretariae Romanae fautores Rei or REI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Rei, a story arc of the anime '' Higurashi When They Cry'' *Rei, a shapeshifting godlike dragon in the Australian webcomic series ''Vainglorious'' *Rei I, II and III, episodes of ''Neon Genesis Ev ...

, a specialist study group for Roman ceramicists, following its founding 1957 and organised the 14th Congress of the society in Oxford and London in September 1984.

Select publications

*Simpson, G. 1948. ''Guide to Chesters Museum with notes on the Roman fort, bridge and bath-house etc.'' Durham. *Simpson. G. 1964. ''Britons and the Roman Army: A Study of Wales and the Southern Provinces in the 1st-3rd Centuries''. London. *Simpson, F. G. (Edited by Simpon, G.). 1976. ''Watermills and Military Works on Hadrian's Wall. Excavations in Northumberland''. Kendal. *Simpson, G. 2000. ''Roman Weapons, Tools, Bronze Equipment and Brooches from Neuss: Nouaesium Excavations 1955-1972'' (BAR International Series 862).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Grace Classical archaeologists British women archaeologists British archaeologists Women classical scholars Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London 2007 deaths 1920 births Haverford College faculty British women historians 20th-century archaeologists Scholars of ancient Roman pottery British expatriates in the United States