Olga Tufnell

Olga Tufnell was born on 26 January 1905 in Sudbury, Suffolk to a prominent landholding family. Her father, Beauchamp Le Fevre Tufnell had been a second lieutenant in the 4th Battalion of Essex Regiment, and her mother, Blanche, maintained a broad range of cultural interests, as well as working with the Anglo-Czech Society. Olga was a middle child with two brothers, Joliffe Gilbert Tufnell and Louis de Saumarez Tufnell. She spent her early life in Little Waltham, and was educated at schools in London and Belgium before going to finishing school in Italy. but also spent some time drawing and repairing pottery. Olga's work evidently impressed Sir Flinders who, at the end of 1927, offered her an opportunity to assist him in the field in 1928. == Expeditions ==

Although Sir Flinders himself did not join the expedition in 1929, he sent Olga with a group of other archaeologists to Qau, where they spent two months recording the reliefs from the tombs of the ancient rulers. Sir Flinders joined the group in 1930 and after reviewing Olga's work, allowed her to publish it under her own name. The remaining team finished during the 1938/9 season, then closed the site. Olga wrote the final report. == Return to London ==

The Wellcome Foundation allowed Olga some rooms at St John's Lodge in London's Regent's Park, where the University College London's Institute of Archaeology had recently been established. Although the majority held that Starkey's interpretation was more likely, in 1973 subsequent excavations vindicated her opinion. In 1951, Olga became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. She was proud of this award and called it one of her "greatest achievements". with the final publication (Lachish IV) in 1957. == Later life ==

Once the full report had been published, Olga turned her attention to the study of scarabs, working with William Ayres Ward. == References ==