Beatrice de Cardi

{{Short description|British archaeologist (1914–2016)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = | name = Beatrice de Cardi | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|FSA|FBA|size=100%}} | image =Beatrice de Cardi.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|6|5|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[London]], England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|7|5|1914|6|5|df=yes}}<ref name=bfsanews/> | death_place = London, England | death_cause = | region = | period = | occupation = | title = Secretary of the [[Council for British Archaeology]] (1949–73) | boards =  | known_for = | spouse = | children = | era = | language = | discipline = [[Archaeologist]] | sub_discipline = Specialist in the archeology of the [[Persian Gulf]], [[Balochistan, Pakistan]] and [[Qatar]] | movement =  | religion =  | denomination =  | education = [[St Paul's Girls' School]] | alma_mater = [[University College London]] | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = | notable_students =  | main_interests = | workplaces =  | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influences =  | influenced =  | awards = [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (1973) <br /> Burton Memorial Medal of the [[Royal Asiatic Society]] (1993) <br /> Gold Medal of the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]] (2014) | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Beatrice Eileen de Cardi''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|FSA|FBA|size=100%|sep=,}} (5 June 1914 – 5 July 2016) was a British [[archaeologist]], specializing in the study of the [[Persian Gulf]] and the [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Baluchistan]] region of [[Pakistan]]. She was president of the British Foundation for the Study of Arabia,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thebfsa.org/content/structure |title=Structure | BFSA |access-date=31 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716231507/https://www.thebfsa.org/content/structure |archive-date=16 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and she was Secretary of the [[Council for British Archaeology]] from 1949 to 1973.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britarch.ac.uk/cba/trustees|title=CBA Trustees|publisher=Council for British Archaeology|accessdate=28 March 2009| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090331011228/http://www.britarch.ac.uk/cba/trustees| archivedate= 31 March 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref> At the end of her career, she was the world's oldest practising archaeologist.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/07/06/beatrice-de-cardi-archaeologist--obituary/|title=Beatrice de Cardi, archaeologist – obituary|newspaper=The Telegraph |date=6 July 2016 |access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref>

== Early life and education == De Cardi was born in London on 5 June 1914, the second daughter of a Corsican father, Edwin de Cardi, and an American mother, Christine Berbette Wurfflein.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/meet-beatrice-de-cardi|title=Beatrice de Cardi, the woman behind the dress|access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref> She was educated at [[St Paul's Girls' School]], although her schooling was interrupted by ill health. From 1933 to 1935 she studied history, Latin and economics at [[University College London]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=134985|title=Term details|website=British Museum|access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref> She also studied archaeology, under the prominent archaeologist [[Mortimer Wheeler|Sir Mortimer Wheeler]].<ref name=":0" /> She graduated with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] (BA) degree.<ref name="WWW">{{cite web |title=de Cardi, Beatrice Eileen |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U13349 |website=[[Who Was Who]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=5 June 2025 |date=1 December 2016}}</ref>

==Career== De Cardi received her earliest training as an assistant at the digs conducted by Wheeler and his wife Tessa at the [[Iron Age]] fort of [[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] in southern England.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Her role there involved learning to classify pottery, and led to a career-long interest.<ref name=":0" /> In 1936, after graduating, she was offered a position as Wheeler's secretary at the [[London Museum (1912–1976)|London Museum]], where he held the position of Keeper. She later became his assistant.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />

During [[World War II]] de Cardi worked for the Allied Supplies Executive of the War Cabinet in China.<ref name=":3" /> She was based in [[Chungking]] but frequently visited India.<ref name=":1" /> She became fascinated with the region, and after the war, she became Britain's Assistant Trade Commissioner in [[Karachi]], [[Delhi]], and [[Lahore]]. From these locations she conducted archaeological surveys in western Baluchistan. De Cardi's work there involved collecting surface materials (including ceramic sherds, copper objects, bone and flint) from a number of sites in [[Jhalawan]]. Her expeditions were carried out with the assistance of an official from the Pakistani Archaeological Department, Sadar Din. Din had been recommended to de Cardi by Wheeler, who had taken a new position of Director General of Archaeology in India.<ref name=":1" /> Together, Din and de Cardi discovered 47 archaeological sites.<ref name=":1" />

After an absence from the region due to political unrest, de Cardi returned to Baluchistan in 1966. She discovered distinctive pottery at sites near the [[Bampur River]] which led to a new understanding of the nature of trade links in the Persian Gulf region in the Bronze Age. She also carried out work in the Persian Gulf, and launched a number of expeditions in the [[United Arab Emirates]] that yielded the first examples of [[Ubaid period|Ubaid]] pottery in the region.<ref>"De Cardi still retains passion for archaeology." ''Gulf News'' 7 March 2009</ref> In this time she also discovered more than 20 tombs from the second millennium B.C.<ref name=":1" />

In 1973, the government of [[Qatar]] appointed de Cardi to lead an archaeological expedition aiming to illustrate Qatar's history for its new [[Qatar National Museum|national museum]]. Her team discovered domestic tools and pottery which suggested that Qatar had traded with other regions much longer ago than previously thought.<ref name=":1" />

After working in Qatar, de Cardi continued to work in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. At around the age of 93 she ceased fieldwork and began to focus on writing and categorising her work.<ref name=":1" />

Of her fieldwork generally, de Cardi stated in 2008, "I have never had any difficulties [...] I am not a woman or a man when I am working in the Gulf or anywhere else. I am a professional and they have always accepted that."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/making-history-the-worlds-oldest-archaeologist-804534.html|title=Independent Online interview, 4 April 2008 | location=London | work=The Independent|first=Jonathan|last=Brown|date=4 April 2008}}</ref>

===Honours=== From 1949 to 1973, de Cardi served as assistant secretary, and then secretary, of the Council for British Archaeology.<ref name=":0" /> The Council founded an annual talk, the Beatrice de Cardi Lecture, in her honour in 1976.<ref>{{citation|url=http://new.archaeologyuk.org/beatrice-de-cardi-lecture|title=Beatrice de Cardi Lecture|accessdate=19 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615022243/http://new.archaeologyuk.org/beatrice-de-cardi-lecture|archive-date=15 June 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.heritagedaily.com/2014/02/leading-tv-historians-pay-tribute-to-the-worlds-oldest-archaeologist/102297|title=Leading TV historians pay tribute to "the world's oldest archaeologist" – HeritageDaily – Heritage & Archaeology News|date=25 February 2014 |access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref> Later, the Council renamed its headquarters Beatrice de Cardi House.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calendar/articles/2013-14/20140606|title=Beatrice de Cardi at 100|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|access-date=7 July 2016|archive-date=22 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122001804/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calendar/articles/2013-14/20140606|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1973, she was appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) for services to archaeology.<ref name="LG OBE">{{London Gazette |issue= 45984 |date= 22 May 1973 |pages= 6481-6482 |supp= y |city= |title= |quote=}}</ref>

In 1989 de Cardi received the [[Al Qasimi Medal]], presented to her for archaeological services to the United Arab Emirates state of [[Ras Al Khaimah]]. She was the first woman to receive the medal.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.gulf-times.com/story/394986/The-legend-of-Beatrice|title=The legend of Beatrice|date=5 June 2014|access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref> In 1993 she received the [[Burton Memorial Medal]] from the [[Royal Asiatic Society]]. From 1995 de Cardi was an Honorary Fellow at [[University College London]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Heritage_and_Culture/10292197.html|title=De Cardi still retains passion for archaeology|first=Eman|last=Mohammed|date=6 March 2009|publisher=Gulfnews|accessdate=28 March 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310123641/http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Heritage_and_Culture/10292197.html|archivedate=10 March 2009|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In June 2014 she [[centenarian|turned 100]],<ref name="Centenary">{{cite web|title = Beatrice De Cardi at 100|work = News and Events|publisher = [[UCL Institute of Archaeology]]|date = 6 June 2014|url = http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calendar/articles/2013-14/20140606|accessdate = 6 June 2014|archive-date = 9 August 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140809061005/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calendar/articles/2013-14/20140606|url-status = dead}}</ref> and was awarded the Gold Medal of the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]] "for distinguished services to archaeology".<ref>{{cite web|title=Presentation of Society Medals 2014|url=http://www.sal.org.uk/news/2014/04/society-medals-2014/|publisher=Society of Antiquaries of London|accessdate=22 June 2014|date=30 April 2014|archive-date=27 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827214907/https://www.sal.org.uk/news/2014/04/society-medals-2014/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Personal life == De Cardi's first fiancé died in World War II. Her second fiancé died in a riding accident in Qatar while working there with her.<ref name=":0" />

De Cardi died in the [[Chelsea and Westminster Hospital]] on 5 July 2016 from complications from a fall that she had suffered almost six weeks earlier.<ref name=bfsanews>{{cite news|url=https://www.thebfsa.org|title=Latest news: It is with great sadness that we announce that the President of the British Foundation for the Study of Arabia, Miss Beatrice de Cardi OBE, FBA, FSA died this morning, 5th July 2016....|date=5 July 2016|publisher=British Foundation for the Study of Arabia|accessdate=5 July 2016}}</ref>

==Publications== * De Cardi, Beatrice. ''Excavations at Bampur, a Third Millennium Settlement in Persian Baluchistan, 1966.'' New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1970. * De Cardi, Beatrice, and D. Brian Doe. ''Archaeological Survey in the Northern Trucial States''. Rome, 1971. * De Cardi, Beatrice, ''Qatar Archaeological Report.'' Qatar: Qatar National Museum, 1978. * De Cardi, Beatrice. ''Archaeological Surveys in Baluchistan, 1948 and 1957''. London: Institute of Archaeology, 1983. * Phillips, C. S., Daniel T. Potts, Sarah Searight, and Beatrice De Cardi (eds.). ''Arabia and its neighbours: essays on prehistorical and historical developments presented in honour of Beatrice de Cardi''. Turnhout: Brepols, 1998. * De Cardi, Beatrice. ''The De Cardi Family in Britain''. London, 2006. * De Cardi, Beatrice. "Exploring the Lower Gulf, 1947–2007" in ''Antiquity: A Quarterly Review of World Archaeology,'' Vol. 82, no. 315, p. 165-77.

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== * [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7359968.stm "Better than Indiana Jones"] – a [[BBC]] short clip {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Cardi, Beatrice}} [[Category:1914 births]] [[Category:2016 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century British archaeologists]] [[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Fellows of the British Academy]] [[Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London]] [[Category:People associated with University College London]] [[Category:British women scientists]] [[Category:British women archaeologists]] [[Category:English people of Italian descent]] [[Category:People educated at St Paul's Girls' School]] [[Category:Alumni of University College London]] [[Category:English people of American descent]] [[Category:British women centenarians]] [[Category:British women historians]]