Audrey Shore HenshallOBEFSAFSA Scot (1927 – 14 December 2021) was a British archaeologist known for her work on Scottish
chambered cairns, prehistoric pottery and early textiles.
Life and work
Henshall was born in
Oldham, Lancashire, in 1927.[2] After leaving school, she moved to Scotland to study archaeology at
University of Edinburgh under
Stuart Piggott, graduating with an
MA in 1949. She remained in Edinburgh for the rest of her life. In 1952, Audrey was appointed as an Assistant Curator at the
National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, now the
National Museum of Scotland.[3] From 1960 to 1971 she was the Assistant Keeper of Archaeology at the
National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. She was appointed Assistant Secretary of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1970. Audrey underpinned the Society's efforts in establishing the Archaeological Field Survey Team, the Urban Excavation Unit, and the Aberdeen Archaeology Unit.[3] Following her retirement in 1986, she was awarded for her years of service by being elected an Honorary Fellow in 1987.[3] She was also a fellow of the London
Society of Antiquaries. In 1992 a
Festschrift was published in her honour[4] and in 1992 she received an
OBE "for services to archaeology".[5] She has been called "a leading authority in a number of fields in early archaeology".[2] She was awarded the Dorothy Marshall Medal by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 2016 for her outstanding voluntary contribution to Scottish archaeological or related work.[6] Henshall died in Edinburgh on 14 December 2021, at the age of 94.[7]
Chambered cairns
Shortly after Henshall graduated with an MA from the
University of Edinburgh, she returned to the Department of Archaeology, having been appointed a Research Fellow under the direction of
Stuart Piggott.[3] He proposed she should study Neolithic burial monuments, and by 1951, she had begun work on her pioneering study of Scottish chambered cairns, titled The Chambered Tombs of Scotland, 1963 and 1972.[3] They were well received by reviewers with comments like "grand result... scholarly work of science and art",[8] and together regarded as a "classic work of reference for the subject".[2] These were followed by four co-authored books about
chambered cairns in specific parts of northern Scotland. Between 1989 and 2001, Henshall produced four regional volumes revising her earlier works and adding numerous newly identified tombs to the ever-growing list of monuments.[3]
The chambered tombs of Scotland. Vol.1, Edinburgh University Press 1963
The chambered tombs of Scotland. Vol.2, Edinburgh University Press 1972
The chambered cairns of
Orkney: an inventory of the structures and their contents, with J.L. Davidson, Edinburgh University Press, 1989
The chambered cairns of
Caithness: an inventory of the structures and their contents, with J.L. Davidson, Edinburgh University Press, 1991
The chambered cairns of
Sutherland: an inventory of the structures and their contents, with J.N.G. Ritchie. Edinburgh University Press 1995
The chambered cairns of the Central
Highlands: an inventory of the structures and their contents, with J.N.G. Ritchie. Edinburgh University Press 2001
Henshall also published:
A Long Cist Cemetery at Parkburn Sand Pit, Lasswade, Midlothian. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; 89, 1958[9]
Notes: (4) A Dagger Grave from the Law of Mauldslie, Carluke, Lanarkshire. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; 95, 1964[10]
The Excavation of a Chambered Cairn at Embo, Sutherland with J C Wallace. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; 96, 1965[11]
Notes: (6) The Jet Necklace Found at Greenhowe, Pluscarden Moray. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; 98, 1967[12]
Scottish chambered tombs and long mounds. In Renfrew, Colin, British Prehistory, Duckworth, 1974
Prehistoric pottery
Henshall was knowledgeable about prehistoric pottery,[2] which was found amongst the
grave goods in the tombs, and described in the books on chambered cairns. One writer considers her "major contributions" have been "in the fields of funerary and ceramic studies".[13] Some of her articles on pottery can be found in the
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, for example, articles on:
Notes: (1) Neolithic Sherds from Dalkeith (vol.98)[14]
Notes: (4) A Food Vessel and Part of a Jet Necklace from Ardfin Forest, Jura, Argyll. (vol.98)[15]
Notes: (5) A Food-Vessel from Carsegour Farm, Kinross (vol.98)[16]
Notes: (1) Three Beakers from Cawdor Area, Nairnshire (vol.99)[17]
Early textiles
While working as Assistant Curator at the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, Audrey developed an interest in prehistoric and later textiles. Much of her work on textiles was published in the 1950s and 1960s. In this she was encouraged by the expert
Grace Crowfoot with whom she co-authored several articles.[18] Her work on the
Gunnister Man's 300-year-old clothing found in a
peat bog in
Shetland attracted wide interest as did her identification of colours used in centuries-old textiles. The
tartan pattern discovered at
Dungiven led to the revival of "an authentic early 17th century tartan".[19] Descriptions of early textiles and clothing designs arising from her forensic examination have been said to be amongst her "most fascinating work".[2]
Note on an early stocking in "
sprang" technique found near
Micklegate Bar, York, Yorkshire Philosophical Society 1951
Early Textiles Found in Scotland. Part I: Locally Made. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; 86, 1954[20]
Early textiles Found in Scotland. Part II Medieval Imports with Grace M Crowfoot and John Beckworth. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; 88, 1956[21]
The
Dungiven costume: (a study of 17th century native dress in Ulster) with Wilfred Seaby. With contributions by A.T. Lucas, A.G. Smith and A. Connor. Ulster Journal of Archaeology. vols. 24-25 (1961–62)
Five tablet-woven seal tags, Royal Archaeological Institute 1965
^Vessels for the Ancestors: Essays on the Neolithic of Britain and Ireland in Honour of Audrey Henshall, edited by Niall Sharples and Alison Sheridan, Edinburgh University Press 1992