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These were the potters -- Reflections on Olga Tufnell's visit to south
Arabia 1959
by
Carl Phillips
In 1959 Olga
Tufnell embarked on a short visit to South Arabia during
which she visited Aden, Mukalla and the Hadramawt. Throughout her visit
she kept a diary in which she recorded her observations. Perhaps
inevitably, there is an emphasis on archaeological and ethnographical
topics, though also included are comments about local newspapers and
radio, and observations on various social issues. When she returned to
London she arranged an exhibition at the Institute of Archaeology of a
collection of traditional pottery that she had collected during her visit.
The exhibition was covered by the Illustrated London News and a more
academic article titled '"These were the potters ..." Notes on the craft
in South Arabia'was published in the Annals of Leeds University Oriental
Society.
As well as its own intrinsic interest (and value) Olga Tufnell's visit to
South Arabia should be seen in the context of developing British interest
in the Archaeology of South Arabia. At the time of her visit, Aden was a British Colony and had been a British posession since 1839. Despite a
number of fundamental discoveries, particularly in the early 19th century,
Britsh interest in the Archeology of South Arabia was very intermittent
and for most of the time an official policy towards archaeology and the
country's antiquities was distinctly lacking. The situation was such that
in 1966, on the eve of Aden regaining its independence from Britain, a
scathing attack on the lack of official policy was delivered in a letter
sent to the Times Newspaper by Sir Mortimer Wheeler.
In the lecture some of the highlights from Olga Tufnell's diary will be
presented and the significance of her visit considered in the context of
the more general progress of archaeological exploration in South Arabia
prior to 1967.
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