Audrey Henshall

Audrey Henshall OBE
Born	1927
Occupation	archaeologist

Audrey Henshall OBE (born 1927) is a British archaeologist known for her work on Scottish chambered cairns, prehistoric pottery and early textiles, including clothing found preserved in peat bogs.

Audrey Shore Henshall was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1927 and went to Edinburgh University, graduating MA in 1949. From 1960 to 1971 she was the Assistant Keeper of Archaeology at the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. She was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1970, and is an honorary fellow of that society. She is also a fellow of the London Society of Antiquaries. In 1992 a Festschrift was published in her honour and in 1993 came an OBE "for services to archaeology". She has been called “a leading authority in a number of fields in early archaeology”.

Her research in this area led to two “significant” volumes on the “chambered tombs of Scotland”, published in 1963 and 1972. They were well received by reviewers with comments like "grand result...scholarly work of science and art", and together regarded as a “classic work of reference for the subject”. These were followed by four co-authored books about chambered cairns in specific parts of northern Scotland.

Henshall also published:

Henshall is knowledgeable about prehistoric pottery, which was found amongst the grave goods in the tombs, and described in the books on chambered cairns. One writer considers her "major contributions" have been "in the fields of funerary and ceramic studies". Some of her articles on pottery can be found in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, for example, articles on:

Much of her work on textiles was published in the 1950s and 1960s. In this she was encouraged by the expert Grace Crowfoot with whom she co-authored some articles. Her work on the "Gunnister Man's" 300-year-old clothing found in a peat bog in Shetland attracted wide interest as did her identification of colours used in centuries-old textiles. The tartan pattern discovered at Dungiven led to the revival of "an authentic early 17th century tartan". Descriptions of early textiles and clothing designs arising from her forensic examination have been said to be amongst her "most fascinating work".

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