Joan Mabel Frederica du Plat Taylor FSA (Glasgow, 26 June 1906 – Cambridge, 21 May 1983) was a British archaeologist and pioneer of underwater

nautical archaeology Maritime archaeology (also known as marine archaeology) is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, s ...

Early life and education

Joan Mabel Frederica Du Plat Taylor was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 26 June 1906. Her parents were Colonel St. John Louis Hyde du Plat Taylor and Alice Home-Purves and her grandfather was Colonel John Lowther du Plat Taylor CB VD (1829 – 5 March 1904). She had no formal training, but became one of the first maritime archaeologists. From 1931 until 1939 she was Assistant Curator at the Cyprus Museum. In Cyprus she excavated a Late Bronze Age mining site at Apliki and a temple of the same period in Myrtou-Pigades. Then from 1940 to 1970 she was a librarian at the Institute of Archaeology.

Nautical archaeology

She campaigned to bring

into the academic fold. She co-directed an excavation of an ancient shipwreck at

Cape Gelidonya Cape Gelidonya ( tr, Gelidonya Burnu or Taşlık Burnu, from el, Χελιδωνία, ''Chelidonia''; la, Chelidonium promontorium), formerly Kilidonia or Killidonia is a cape or headland on the Teke Peninsula in the chain of Taurus Mountains, loc ...

in 1960 alongside

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early years Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George ...

, was instrumental in establishing the Council for Nautical Archaeology in 1964 and was founder editor of the

International Journal of Nautical Archaeology The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) is a charity registered in England and WalesCharity Commission
...

(IJNA) from 1972–1980. She also recognised that amateurs could play an important role in archaeology and established systems to educate and encourage them. She was the first president of the

Nautical Archaeology Society The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) is a charity registered in England and WalesCharity Commission
...

. She personally funded a grant to support publication of nautical archaeological research. Since her death, the award has continued to be given by the

Nautical Archaeology Society The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) is a charity registered in England and WalesCharity Commission
...

as the ''Joan du Plat Taylor Award''.

Selected publications

* * * ** Taylor, Joan du Plat; (1935). "Hoard of Medieval Coins from Tripoli Bastion", Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 22-24. * * * * Taylor, Joan du Plat (1964). "Motya: A Phoenician Trading Settlement in Sicily". ''Archaeology.'' 17 (2): 91-100. *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Joan du Plat Scottish women archaeologists Scottish archaeologists 1906 births 1983 deaths Maritime archaeology Archaeologists from Glasgow 20th-century British women scientists 20th-century British women writers 20th-century archaeologists Underwater archaeologists