P. A. M. Keef
Birth placeAmritsar, India
Birth date1898[1]
Death date1978[note 1]
DisciplineArchaeology
Workplaces

Phoebe Keef (1898–1978) was a field archaeologist and was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1938.[2] She directed several excavations, including work at East Dean Park[1] and Harting Beacon, both in Sussex.[3]

Biography

Keef was born in Amritsar in 1898, during the British Raj, and her family later moved to England where she went to school. Keef's father died when she was 3 years old. During the First World War, Keef worked for the YMCA and the St John's Ambulance,[1] and received a medal for her work with the YMCA.[4]

In 1934 Keef completed a diploma in archaeology, studying at University College London.[5] In 1938 she volunteered at the excavation of Angmering Roman villa.[2] She also excavated at Chester hill fort in Scotland in 1939.[6]

Keef worked at a hospital during the Second World War, and was a hospital librarian, but in 1941 was allowed time away from the hospital to join excavations at Angmering.[2][7] Two years later she took part in 'The Conference on the Future of Archaeology' at the Institute of Archaeology in London, contributing to a discussion on the role of archaeological societies.[8]

Keef directed excavations at the hillfort known as Harting Beacon between 1948 and 1952; the results were largely unpublished aside from a note in The Antiquaries Journal, however, Owen Bedwin later published a summary of the excavations in the Sussex Archaeological Collections based on Keef's notes accessed after her death.[3] Keef ran the West Sussex excavation group. With the group she excavated a Romano-British farmstead near Lambs Lea in Sussex in 1953–54.[9]

Selected publications

  • Keef, Phoebe (1940). "Flint-Chipping Sites and Hearths on Bedham Hill near Pulborough". Sussex Archaeological Collections. 81: 215–237. doi:10.5284/1086692
  • Keef, Phoebe (1945). "Excavations at Chester Hill Fort, Hundleshope, in Manor Parish, 1939". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 80: 66–73. doi:10.9750/PSAS.080.66.73
  • Keef, Phoebe (1945). "Angmering Roman Villa Site: Interim Report on Excavations, 1941". Sussex Archaeological Collections. 84: 83–107. doi:10.5284/1085960
  • Keef, Phoebe (1953). "Two gold penannular ornaments from Harting Beacon, Sussex". Antiquaries Journal. 33 (3–4): 204–206. doi:10.1017/S0003581500059400
  • Keef, Phoebe; Wymer, J. J.; Dimbleby, G. W. (1965). "A Mesolithic Site on Iping Common, Sussex, England". Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, London. 31: 85–92. doi:10.1017/S0079497X00014730

Notes

  1. ^ The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland reported Keef's death during 1978–79.[10]

References

  1. ^ McInnes, James (2016), "East Dean: a home for the High Woods", Secrets of the High Woods: Revealing Hidden Landscapes, Manley, John (ed.), South Downs National Park Authority, pp. 86–87, ISBN 978-1-5272-0302-0, retrieved 31 August 2021
  2. ^ Phillips, Pauline (1998). "The participation of women in the journal Sussex Archaeological Collections 1900-1950". Sussex Archaeological Collections. 136: 141. doi:10.5284/1085032
  3. ^ Bedwin, Owen (1983). "Miss P. A. M. Keef's Excavations at Harting Beacon and nearby sites 1948-1952". Sussex Archaeological Collections. 121: 199–202.
  4. ^ The National Archives. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  5. ^ "Phoebe Alice Marion Keef". beyond-notability.wikibase.cloud. Retrieved 2025-02-01.; citing London University Gazette Supplement Wed 31 July 1935 (London Uni Gazette 1934-1935, UP 1/3/31)
  6. ^ Keef, Phoebe A M (1948-11-30). "Excavations at Chester Hill Fort, Hundleshope, in Manor Parish, 1939". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 80: 66–73. doi:10.9750/PSAS.080.66.73. ISSN 2056-743X
  7. ^ Moshenska, Gabriel (2013). "Reflections on the 1943 'Conference on the Future of Archaeology'". Archaeology International. 16 (1). doi:10.5334/ai.1606. ISSN 1463-1725
  8. ^ Thornton, Amara (12 March 2021). "Going Back to the Future (of Archaeology)". Reading Room Notes. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  9. ^ Gilkes, Oliver J. (1990). "Miss P. A. M. Keef's Excavations on a Roman Farmstead at Lambs Lea, West Sussex". Sussex Archaeological Collections. 128: 246–249.
  10. ^ "Anniversary meeting: 30 November 1979". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 1981. doi:10.9750/PSAS.110.554.560