Bridget Allchin, who has died at the age of 90, was a pioneer in the field of South Asian archaeology. During her career, she made some of the most important discoveries of South Asian prehistory, and laid the foundations for (now standard) interdisciplinary approaches to its study. She also played a pivotal role in promoting and facilitating South Asian studies across Europe. Born Bridget Gordon on 10 February 1927 in Oxford, the daughter of Major Stephen Gordon of the Indian Army Medical Service and Elsie (née Cox), Bridget spent her childhood in Scotland. During World War II, she helped her mother run the family farm, which at that time also involved looking after evacuees and even a German prisoner of war. It was here, inspired by the works of William Sollas, that she resolved to study prehistory at university. However, archaeology was not taught as a degree in Britain at the time. So she enrolled for a Bachelor’s degree at University College London that included Ancient History, and spent her Easter holidays excavating a prehistoric site in Oxford. Her studies were interrupted when her parents moved to South Africa, and Bridget was compelled to follow them. She planned to return to Britain as soon as possible to resume her studies, but soon found that she could read for a degree in African Studies, including Anthropology and Archaeology, at Cape Town University. Here, she studied under Astley Goodwin, who instilled in her the necessity of strictly scientific methods of fieldwork; and in her free time, learned to fly in a Piper Cub. In the summer of 1950, armed with her degree and all of her savings, Bridget returned to Britain on her own to study for a PhD. After being told by the London School of Economics that her ‘colonial degree’ was not considered adequate preparation for a research degree, she resolved to go to UCL instead. Demanding to meet the then director of the Institute of Archaeology, Vere Gordon Childe, without an appointment – and in what she herself described as a ‘somewhat belligerent mood’ – she managed to convince the Institute to admit her in less than ten minutes. She began her PhD that autumn, under the supervision of Frederick Zeuner, with every intention of working on later African prehistory and ethnoarchaeology. It was there, at a lecture, that Bridget met her future husband and lifelong colleague, Raymond Allchin. The couple were married in March 1951, and spent their honeymoon in the Dordogne visiting the Palaeolithic cave paintings in the Vallée de la Vézère. Raymond, who had just won a PhD scholarship to study the archaeology of the Deccan, was due to spend a year in South Asia, and so Bridget made arrangements to spend a year’s study leave with him. Raymond’s supervisor, Kenneth Codrington, was very supportive of this plan, not least because Bridget was the only one among them who had a driving licence. While preparing to go, Bridget found out that she was pregnant. Hiding the news from both of their families, Bridget checked their itinerary, and with characteristic pragmatism, arranged to give birth in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). They spent the next six months travelling throughout South Asia, and when they finally made their way to South India, Bridget was eight months pregnant. It was during this period that Bridget fell in love with South Asia, thereby sealing a personal and professional relationship that would endure for the rest of her life. She was awed by the richness of South Asian archaeology, astonished by the beauty of its artistic heritage, and developed a passion for its land and culture. Bridget wrote her first professional paper during this time, on the Palaeolithic stone tools in the collections of the University of Mysore, before heading back into the field with a two-month-old infant – her daughter, Sushila. It was also during this period that Bridget and Raymond embarked on what was to become a remarkable academic partnership. Their pioneering excavations at the prehistoric site of Piklihal resulted in the identification of its famous ash mounds as Neolithic sites associated with cattle. Bridget returned to London, and after giving birth to her second child, William, was awarded her PhD (later published, in 1966, as The Stone-Tipped Arrow: Late Stone Age Hunters of the Tropical Old World). In doing so, Bridget became one of the few people in post-War Britain to attain a PhD – a feat that was South Asian Studies, 2020 Vol. 36, No. 1, 118–120, https://doi.org/10.1080/02666030.2017.1382044

中文翻译：

---

布里奇特·奥尔钦

享年 90 岁的布里奇特·奥尔钦是南亚考古领域的先驱。在她的职业生涯中，她对南亚史前史做出了一些最重要的发现，并为（现在是标准的）跨学科研究方法奠定了基础。她还在整个欧洲促进和促进南亚研究方面发挥了关键作用。布里奇特·戈登于 1927 年 2 月 10 日出生在牛津，是印度陆军医疗服务队的斯蒂芬·戈登少校和埃尔西（原姓考克斯）的女儿，布里奇特在苏格兰度过了她的童年。二战期间，她帮助母亲经营家庭农场，当时还包括照顾撤离人员，甚至一名德国战俘。正是在这里，受到威廉索拉斯作品的启发，她决定在大学学习史前史。然而，考古学当时在英国不是作为学位教授的。因此，她在伦敦大学学院攻读了包括古代历史在内的学士学位，并利用复活节假期在牛津挖掘了一个史前遗址。当她的父母搬到南非时，她的学业中断了，布里奇特被迫跟随他们。她计划尽快返回英国继续学业，但很快发现她可以在开普敦大学攻读非洲研究学位，包括人类学和考古学。在这里，她师从阿斯特利·古德温（Astley Goodwin），后者向她灌输了严格科学的田野调查方法的必要性；在空闲时间，她学会了驾驶Piper Cub 飞行。1950 年夏天，布里奇特带着她的学位和所有积蓄，独自回到英国攻读博士学位。在被伦敦经济学院告知她的“殖民学位”不被认为是研究学位的充分准备后，她决定转而去伦敦大学学院。要求在没有预约的情况下与当时的考古研究所所长 Vere Gordon Childe 会面——她自己形容为“有点好战的情绪”——她设法说服研究所在不到十分钟的时间内接纳她。那年秋天，她在弗雷德里克·泽纳 (Frederick Zeuner) 的指导下开始攻读博士学位，一心致力于后期非洲史前史和民族考古学的研究。在那里，在一次讲座中，布里奇特遇到了她未来的丈夫和终身同事雷蒙德·奥尔钦。这对夫妇于 1951 年 3 月结婚，并在多尔多涅省度了蜜月，参观了 Vallée de la Vézère 的旧石器时代洞穴壁画。雷蒙德，刚刚获得博士奖学金的德干考古学博士，由于要在南亚待一年，所以布里奇特安排了一年的学习假。Raymond 的主管 Kenneth Codrington 非常支持这个计划，尤其是因为 Bridget 是他们中唯一拥有驾驶执照的人。准备出发时，布里奇特发现自己怀孕了。布里奇特隐瞒了双方家人的消息，检查了他们的行程，以特有的务实态度，安排在班加罗尔（今班加罗尔）分娩。在接下来的六个月里，他们在南亚各地旅行，当他们最终到达南印度时，布里奇特已经怀孕八个月了。正是在这个时期，布里奇特爱上了南亚，从而建立了一种将在她的余生中持续下去的个人和职业关系。她对南亚考古学的丰富性感到敬畏，对其艺术遗产的美丽感到惊讶，并对其土地和文化产生了热情。在此期间，布里奇特撰写了她的第一篇专业论文，内容是关于迈索尔大学收藏的旧石器时代石器工具，然后带着一个两个月大的婴儿——她的女儿苏希拉——回到了这个领域。也是在此期间，布里奇特和雷蒙德开始了非凡的学术合作伙伴关系。他们在皮克利哈尔史前遗址进行的开创性发掘，将其著名的灰丘确定为与牛有关的新石器时代遗址。布里奇特回到伦敦，在生下第二个孩子威廉之后，获得博士学位（后来于 1966 年出版，名为《石尖箭：热带旧世界晚期石器时代猎人》）。通过这样做，布里奇特成为战后英国为数不多的获得博士学位的人之一——这一壮举就是南亚研究，2020 年卷。36, No. 1, 118–120, https://doi.org/10.1080/02666030.2017.1382044