Phoebe Keef Explained

P. A. M. Keef
Birth Place:	Amritsar, India
Birth Date:	1898
Discipline:	Archaeology

Phoebe Keef (1898–1978) was a field archaeologist and was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1938.^[1] She directed several excavations, including work at East Dean Park and Harting Beacon, both in Sussex.^[2]

Biography

Keef was born in Amritsar in 1898, and her family later moved to England where she went to school. Keef's father died when she was 3 years old. During the First World War, Keef worked for the YMCA and the St John's Ambulance. In 1938 she volunteered at the excavation of Angmering Roman villa. Keef worked at a hospital during the Second World War, but in 1941 was allowed time away from the hospital to join excavations at Angmering.^[1] Two years later she took part in The Conference on the Future of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology in London, contributing to a discussion on the role of archaeological societies.^[3]

Keef directed excavations at the hillfort known as Harting Beacon between 1948 and 1952; the results were largely unpublished aside from a note in The Antiquaries Journal, however, Owen Bedwin later published a summary of the excavations in the Sussex Archaeological Collections based on Keef's notes accessed after her death. Keef ran the West Sussex excavation group. With the group she excavated a Romano-British farmstead near Lambs Lea in Sussex in 1953–54.^[4]

Selected publications

• Keef. Phoebe . 1940 . Flint-Chipping Sites and Hearths on Bedham Hill near Pulborough. Sussex Archaeological Collections. 81. 215–237. 10.5284/1086692 . free.
• Keef. Phoebe . — . 1945 . Excavations at Chester Hill Fort, Hundleshope, in Manor Parish, 1939 . Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 80. 66–73. 10.9750/PSAS.080.66.73 .
• Keef. Phoebe . —. 1945 . Angmering Roman Villa Site: Interim Report on Excavations, 1941 . Sussex Archaeological Collections. 84. 83–107 . 10.5284/1085960 . free.
• Keef. Phoebe . —. 1953 . Two gold penannular ornaments from Harting Beacon, Sussex . Antiquaries Journal. 33. 3–4. 204–206. 10.1017/S0003581500059400.
• Keef. Phoebe . Wymer. J. J.. Dimbleby. G. W.. 1965 . A Mesolithic Site on Iping Common, Sussex, England . Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, London. 31. 85–92. 10.1017/S0079497X00014730.

Notes and References

1. Phillips . Pauline . The participation of women in the journal Sussex Archaeological Collections 1900-1950 . Sussex Archaeological Collections . 1998 . 136 . 141 . 10.5284/1085032 . free.
2. Bedwin. Owen. 1983. Miss P. A. M. Keef's Excavations at Harting Beacon and nearby sites 1948-1952. Sussex Archaeological Collections. 121. 199–202.
3. Web site: Thornton . Amara . Going Back to the Future (of Archaeology) . Reading Room Notes . 1 September 2021 . en.
4. Gilkes. Oliver J.. 1990. Miss P. A. M. Keef's Excavations on a Roman Farmstead at Lambs Lea, West Sussex. Sussex Archaeological Collections. 128. 246–249.