Joan du Plat Taylor

Joan Mabel Frederica du Plat Taylor (26 June 1906 – 1983)[1] was a British archaeologist and pioneer of underwater nautical archaeology.

Joan Mabel Frederica Du Plat Taylor
Born26 June 1906
Glasgow, Scotland
Died1983 (1984) (aged 76)
NationalityBritish
OccupationArchaeologist
Known forMaritime Archaeology and establishing the Council for Nautical Archaeology

Early life and education

Joan Mabel Frederica Du Plat Taylor was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 26 June 1906. Her parents were Colonel St. John Louis Hyde du Plat Taylor and Alice Home-Purves and her grandfather was Colonel John Lowther du Plat Taylor CB VD (1829 – 5 March 1904). She had no formal training, but became one of the first maritime archaeologists.

Nautical archaeology
du Plat Taylor excavating a shipwreck at Cape Gelidonya in 1959.

She campaigned to bring nautical archaeology into the academic fold. She co-directed an excavation of an ancient shipwreck at Cape Gelidonya in 1960 alongside George Bass,[1] was instrumental in establishing the Council for Nautical Archaeology[2] and was founder editor of the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (IJNA) from 1972–1980. She also recognised that amateurs could play an important role in archaeology and established systems to educate and encourage them. She was the first president of the Nautical Archaeology Society.[3]

She personally funded a grant to support publication of nautical archaeological research. Since her death, the award has continued to be given by the Nautical Archaeology Society as the Joan du Plat Taylor Award.

Selected publications
  • Taylor, Joan Du Plat (1932). "A Thirteenth Century Church in Nicosia, Cyprus". Antiquity. 6 (24): 469–471. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00102741.
  • Taylor, Joan du Plat (1933). "A Water Cistern with Byzantine Paintings, Salamis, Cyprus". The Antiquaries Journal. 13 (2): 97–108. doi:10.1017/S0003581500039408.
  • Taylor, Joan Du Plat (1938). "Medieval Graves in Cyprus". Ars Islamica. 5 (1): 55–87. JSTOR 4520917.
  • Taylor, Joan du Plat (1952). "A Late Bronze Age settlement at Apliki, Cyprus". The Antiquaries Journal. 32 (3–4): 133–167. doi:10.1017/S0003581500076800.
  • Taylor, Joan Du Plat (1959). "The Cypriot and Syrian Pottery from Al Mina, Syria". Iraq. 21 (1): 62–92. doi:10.2307/4199649. JSTOR 4199649.
  • World Underwater Federation (1965). du Plat Taylor, Joan (ed.). Marine Archaeology: developments during sixty years in the Mediterranean. Crowell.

References
  1. Hirschfeld, Nicolle. "Joan Mabel Frederica du Plat Taylor, 1906–1983" (PDF). Breaking Ground: Women in Old World Archeology. Brown University. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  2. "Obituary of Joan du Plat Taylor". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. Academic Press, London. 12 (3): 188–189. August 1983. doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.1983.tb00133.x. ISSN 0305-7445.
  3. Morrison, Ian (November 1981). "Editorial". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. Academic Press, London. 10 (4): 271–2. doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.1981.tb00039.x. 0305-7445.
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