Last year we celebrated the female archaeologists based at AAL and how they found their way into their careers. This year we have decided to highlight the work of Lincolns first City Archaeologist; Christina Colyer.

Christina Colyer was the Director of the Lincoln Archaeology Trust, the first ‘unit’ formed in Lincoln in 1972. It is under her leadership that the most prominent excavations in the city took place. The results of her work can be seen across the city and include the work at pivotal sites including the western defences of the lower town and St Paul-in-the-Bail.

She started working in Lincoln as the speed of post-war development was beginning to overwhelm the Lincoln Archaeological Research Committee’s ability to keep up. She herself described the problem as “of horrific proportions”. It has been difficult to track her down, no obituaries appear in local journals, and in a time before the internet her mark has been left in a series of tantalizing clues. She seems to have worked in Bedfordshire for the Department of the Environment before starting in Lincoln. Various correspondence indicate that she had a B.A. and was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

People remember her as both charismatic and controversial. Perhaps this is why she is barely visible today. Those who worked for her suggest she was an outspoken woman and that this was not always popular.

A recent Appreciation of Margaret Jones, a leader of the Mucking excavations, suggested that women have been considered largely absent during the Rescue period of field archaeology of 1950s to 1970s. However, Christina (like Margaret) was one of a number of women who directed major excavations across the UK.

Scandalous, controversial or charismatic, archaeology in Lincoln would be a different place had Christina not paved the way for the current generation of archaeologists who continue her work.
For a detailed bibliography see here

A huge thank you to Alastair MacIntosh at City of Lincoln Council for providing the photographs.