Josephine Flood facts for kids

Josephine Mary Flood (born July 25, 1936) is a famous archaeologist, mountaineer, and author. She was born in England but later became an Australian citizen. She is known for her important work studying Australia's ancient past and its Indigenous cultures.

Early Life and Learning

Josephine Flood was born Josephine Scarr in Yorkshire, England. She studied Classics (ancient Greek and Roman history and languages) at Girton College, Cambridge, in 1959. Later, she moved to Australia in 1963.

She continued her studies at the Australian National University (ANU). There, she earned her master's degree in 1968 and her PhD in 1973. Her PhD research was about the history of Aboriginal people in the Australian Alps. This work was later published as a book called The Moth Hunters.

In 1964, Josephine married Philip Flood, an Australian diplomat. They had three children together.

Discovering Australia's Past

In 1963, Josephine Flood started working at the Australian National University. She first taught about ancient Greek and Roman history. But soon, she became very interested in Australian archaeology. This is the study of human history in Australia through digging up old sites and objects.

From 1979 to 1991, she worked at the Australian Heritage Commission. This organization helps protect important historical and natural places in Australia. Josephine helped add over 2,000 Aboriginal archaeological sites to a special list called the Register of the National Estate.

She also helped get important places like Kakadu National Park and the Willandra Lakes Region added to the World Heritage List. This list includes places around the world that are very important to everyone.

Cloggs Cave Discovery

Josephine Flood made an exciting discovery called Cloggs Cave. She found this cave while driving in Victoria, Australia. Her team dug there and found many ancient stone and bone tools. These tools showed that people lived in the cave more than 30,000 years ago. This was a very important find for understanding Australia's early history.

Understanding Ancient Life

Josephine Flood used information about how Aboriginal people live today to understand how they lived long ago. She believed that the "stone-age, foraging, semi-nomadic way of life" of Aboriginal people had not changed much over thousands of years. This helped her explain what life might have been like for ancient Australians.

For example, in 1989, she studied a very old skeleton found at Lake Mungo. This discovery helped her understand the roles of women in ancient Aboriginal society.

Awards and Recognition

Josephine Flood has received many awards for her important work.

• In 1991, she became a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
• In 2001, she received the Centenary Medal. This award was for her great contributions to Australian society and the study of prehistory and archaeology.
• Her book, The Original Australians, was a finalist for the Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History in 2007.
• In 2019, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). This was to recognize her "significant service to archaeology, and to the study of Indigenous culture."

Other Interests and Retirement

Besides archaeology, Josephine Flood is also a skilled mountaineer. When she was at Cambridge University, she was part of a group that climbed the university's stone buildings to practice their climbing skills!

She went on several climbing expeditions:

• In 1961, she led the Women's Kulu Expedition.
• In 1962, she joined the Women's Jagdula Expedition to Nepal.

On these trips, she climbed six mountains over 20,000 feet that no one had climbed before. She wrote a book about her adventures called Four Miles High.

Josephine Flood retired early to focus on her research, writing, and travel. Even in retirement, she continued to help with archaeological projects. She supported studies in the Australian Alps and helped record ancient rock art in the Northern Territory. She also helped with dating when large ancient animals, called megafauna, became extinct in Australia.

In 2015, she became a Member of the Emeritus Faculty of ANU. This means she is still recognized as an important part of the university.