Sylvia Hallam facts for kids

Sylvia Hallam (1927–2019) was an important archaeologist. She was born in England but spent most of her working life in Australia. She taught at the University of Western Australia. Sylvia Hallam is famous for her book Fire and Hearth. She also worked hard to protect Aboriginal art, especially at a place called Murujuga in Western Australia.

Early Life and Education

Sylvia Joy Maycock was born in Kettering, England. Her father was a pharmacist, which is someone who prepares and sells medicines. In 1945, Sylvia won a special scholarship. This allowed her to study at Newnham College, Cambridge, a famous university.

She first studied natural science. Later, she changed her focus to archaeology. Archaeology is the study of human history and prehistory. This is done by digging up old sites and looking at artifacts. Sylvia finished her degree in 1948. She was one of the first women to officially receive a degree from Cambridge.

After university, she did a big study. She looked at old settlements in East Anglia from the first to the fourth centuries AD. This means she studied places where people lived about 1,600 to 1,900 years ago. Her work was published in 1970. She earned a PhD in 2004 because of this important research.

Her Career in Australia

Sylvia Hallam moved to Perth in Australia in 1961. Her husband became a teacher at the University of Western Australia (UWA). In 1970, Sylvia started teaching there part-time. She taught about prehistory, which is the time before written records.

By 1973, she became a full-time teacher. She was promoted to associate professor in 1984. In the same year, she became a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. This is a special honor for experts in humanities. Sylvia retired from UWA in 1989. However, she continued to do research with the university as an honorary fellow.

In 2011, a book was published to celebrate her work. It was called Fire and Hearth: Forty Years On. This book included essays from her friends and former students. The Western Australian Museum published it.

Sylvia Hallam was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Western Australia. This is a group for scientists and researchers. She was the first woman to be president of this society. She was elected in 1985.

Personal Life

Sylvia married Herbert Enoch Hallam in 1948. She passed away on June 3, 2019, in Perth, Western Australia. She had a daughter and three sons. Her husband had passed away earlier, in 1993.