Lady Olwen Phillis Frances Brogan (née Kendall; 15 December 1900 – 18 December 1989; later Hackett) was a British archaeologist and expert on
Roman Libya
The area of North Africa which has been known as Libya since 1911 was under Roman domination between 146 BC and 672 AD (even if in the meantime it was taken by the Vandals in 430 AD, and then recaptured by the Byzantines). The Latin name ''Libya'' ...
. She attended
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
and later taught there. She was the author of two
monograph
A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject.
In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
s, over thirty articles and was a regular reviewer for Antiquaries Journal, Antiquity and Journal of Roman Studies.Women in Old World Archaeology bio at Brown University /ref>
Brogan initially learned excavation techniques under
Mortimer Wheeler
Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales an ...
at
Verulamium
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
and Caerleon, while her MA thesis analysed the Roman frontier in Germany and the relationship of Germanic peoples with the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
.
She was one of the leading excavators at Gergovia in 1930 which expanded knowledge of Gallic
oppida
An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
, however this work was interrupted by 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 ...
. Following the war, Brogan started work at
Sabratha
Sabratha ( ar, صبراتة, Ṣabrāta; also ''Sabratah'', ''Siburata''), in the Zawiya DistrictKathleen Kenyon
Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...
from 1948 to 1951. While working at
Sabratha
Sabratha ( ar, صبراتة, Ṣabrāta; also ''Sabratah'', ''Siburata''), in the Zawiya District
Brogan excavated in
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
nearly every year from the 1950s to 1974, particularly in
Tripolitania
Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...
at sites
Lepcis Magna
Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names in antiquity, was a prominent city of the Carthaginian Empire and Roman Libya at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda in the Mediterranean.
Originally a 7th-centuryBC Phoenician foundation, it was great ...
with
John Ward-Perkins
John Bryan Ward-Perkins, (3 February 1912 – 28 May 1981) was a British Classical architectural historian and archaeologist, and director of the British School at Rome.
Family and early life
John Bryan Ward-Perkins was born on 3 February 19 ...
.
Brogan's largest work in
Tripolitania
Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...
was the interior settlement and monumental cemetery at Ghirza, creating one of the best published site of the Libyan interior. Brogan excavated the site alongside Emilio Vergera-Cafarelli and David Smith over four seasons. This work revealed structures which fit into the tradition in Roman Africa of fusing Hellenistic, Punic and Roman traditions with African ritual needs and ideologies.
She also worked in
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and in the 1970s, Brogan produced a publication of a previously unknown 6 km long Roman linear barrier made of stone wall and bank and ditch. This was significant as it marked the continuation of frontier earthworks already known in Tunisia.
Between 1969 and 1974, Brogan was appointed as the first Honorary Secretary for the Society for Libyan Studies. In 1984, the Society organised a conference in her honour, resulting in the publication of 'Town and Country in Roman Tripolitania: Papers in honour of Olwen Hackett'.
Brogan Collection
The Olwen Brogan Collection, a collection of Brogan's work relating to her work in North Africa and France, is in the archives of the British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies, which is housed at the
University of Leicester
, mottoeng = So that they may have life
, established =
, type = public research university
, endowment = £20.0 million
, budget = £326 million
, chancellor = David Willetts
, vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah
, head_labe ...
.
Published works
* Brogan. O. 1933. The new battle of Georgovia. Antiquity 7:216-19.
* Brogan. O. 1934, An introduction to the Roman land frontier in Germany. Greece and Rome 3-4: 23–30.
* Brogan. O. 1935. The Roman ‘limes’ of Germany. Archaeological Journal 92: 1-41.
* Brogan, O. 1936. Trade between the Roman Empire and the free Germans. Journal of Roman studies 26: 195-222
* Brogan, O. 1953. Roman Gaul. London.
* Brogan,O 1954. The camel in Roman Tripolitania. Papers of the British School at Rome 22:126-31
* Brogan, O. 1955. When the home guard of Libya created security and fertility on the desert frontier: Ghirza in the third century A.D. Obelisk and temple tombs of Imperial Roman date near Ghirza. (Two articles) in The Illustrated London News 22 January 1955: 138-42 and 29 January 1955: 182-85
* Brogan, O. 1962. A Tripolitanian centenarian. In Hommages à Albert Grennier (Collection Latomus 58): 368–73.
* Brogan, O. 1964. The Roman Remains in the Wadi el-Amud. Libya Antiqua 1:47-56.
* Brogan, O. 1965. Henschir el-Ausaf by Tigi (Tripolitania) and some related tombs in the Tunisian Gefara. Libya Antiqua 2: 47–56.
* Brogan, O. 1965. Notes on the Wadis Neina and Bei el-Kebir and some predesert tracks. Libya Antiqua. 2: 57–64.
* Brogan, O. 1970. British Archaeology in Libya 1943–1970. Libyan Studies 1: 6–11.
* Brogan, O. 1971. First and second century settlement in the Tripolitanian pre-desert. In F.f. Gadalla (ed.), Libya in History. Proceedings of a conference held at the Faculty of Arts, University of Libya 1968. Benghazi: 121–130.
* Brogan, O. 1971. Expedition to Tripolitania 1971. Libyan Studies 2: 10-11
* Brogan, O. 1974. The Coming of Rome and the Establishment of Roman Gaul. In S. Piggot, G., Daniel and C.McBurney (eds), France before the Romans. London: 192–219.
* Brogan, O. 1975. Round and Misurata. Libyan Studies 6: 49–58.
* Brogan, O. 1975. Inscriptions in the Libyan alphabet from Tripolitania and some notes on the tribes of the region. In J. Bynon and T. Bynon (eds), Hamito-Semitica. Mouston: 267–89.
* Brogan, O. 1976. Ghirza and Zliten, In R. Stillwell (ed.(, the Princeton Encyclopaedia of Classical Sites. Princeton: 352 and 1000–01.
* Brogan, O. 1978. Es-Sernama Bir el-Uaar: a Roman tomb in Libya. In R. Moorey and P. Parr (eds), Archaeology in the Levant. Essays for Kathleen Kenyon. Warminster: 233–37.
* Brogan, O. 1980. Hadd Hajar, a ‘clausura'; in the Tripolitanian Gebel Garian south of Asabaa. Libyan Studies 11: 45–52.
* Brogan, O and Desforges, E. 1940. Georgovia. Archaeological Journal 97: 1-36.
* Brogan, O., Hawkes, C., Desforges, E. 1935. Fouilles à Georgovie. Revue archéologique 5: 220-30
* Brogan, O. and Oates, D. 1953. Gasr el-Gezira, a shrine in the Gebel Nefusa of Tripolitania. Papers of the British School at Rome 21: 74–80.
* Brogan, O. and Reynolds, J. M. 1964. Inscriptions from the Tripoitanian hinterland. Libya Antiqua 1:43-46.
* Brogan, O. and Reynolds, J.M. 1985. An inscription from the Wadi Antar. In Buck, D.J. and Mattingly, D.J. (eds). 1985. Town and Country in Roman Tripolitania. Papers in honour of Olwen Hackett. BAR S 274, Oxford: 13–23.
* Brogan, O. and Smith, D.J. 1957. The Roman frontier at Ghirza, an interim report. Journal of Roman Studies. 47: 173–84.
* Brogan, O. and Smith, D.J. 1985. Ghirza: a Romano-Libyan Settlement in Tripolitania. Libyan Antiquities Series 1. Tripoli.
* Reynolds, J.M., Brogan, O. and Smith, D. 1958. Inscriptions in the Libyan alphabet from Ghirza in Tripolitania. Antiquity32: 112–115.
* Vita-Finzi, C. and Brogan, O. 1965. Roman dams on the Wadi Megenin. Libya Antiqua 2: 65–71.