Zeng Zhaoyu (1909-1964) ：China's first female archaeologist

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Behind the Scenes and on the Stage: The Women Who Shaped Archaeology" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ms. Zeng Zhaoyu, born into a wealthy family, and her family background enabled her to self fund her studies at the University of London and follow Prof Professor Yetts studied "Chinese Archaeology and Art History" (1935). At that time, China had just emerged from thousands of years of feudal monarchy, and the development of modern social sciences was seriously lagging behind. Almost no one in the field of archaeology was engaged in this research. Considering the national conditions of China , Ms. Zeng Zhaoyu resolutely decided to pursue archaeology and museology as her lifelong research direction. She then interned at the National Museum in Berlin and the Munich Museum, and participated in field archaeological excavations in Schleswig, Germany and other places. After returning to China, Ms. Zeng Zhaoyu participated in ethnic surveys and archaeological excavations, and worked in multiple museums, organizing and planning the construction of modern Chinese museums, as well as collecting and exhibiting cultural relics, which made many precious cultural relics well preserved and made great contributions to the public archaeology. Her book "Museums" is an important work in the field of early Chinese museology, and many important museum theories mentioned in it are still in use today.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Behind the Scenes and on the Stage: The Women Who Shaped Archaeology

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53638