Midwives Tales

[...] The maternal effect may be attributed to an influence of the chromosomal composition of the mother upon the eggs which will give rise to the offspring exhibiting the lethal ratio previous to the time when these eggs leave the mother's body. The presenccin such eggs, after fertilization, of the female-determining chromosomal complex as contrasted with the presence of the male-determining chromosomal complex is responsible for the differential death rate.

It has long been known, as shown for example by the extensive work on reciprocal species crosses in echinoderms and teleosts, that the developing embryo may for a longer or shorter period exhibit characters typical of the race from which the egg was derived. But an intrinsic difficulty from the genetic standpoint in much be raised to maturity and bred of this work is that the hybrids cannot be raised to maturity and bred. It is only when succeeding generations are obtained that we have the data necessary for determining whether a given case of maternal inheritance is quite independent of the nucleus or is the result of a deferred nuclear influence. The intimate relation of the egg with the mother’s body, as well as the fact that preceding reduction it contains the chromosome complex of the mother, afford a basis for the latter type of maternal inheritance.

In regard to those characters which are shown to be determined by the genic composition of the mother and to which in consequence the term “maternal inheritance” is applied, it should be noted that this term is not happily chosen. For although the characters are immediately fixed by the constitution of the mother they are just as definitely inherited from the father as from the mother, as becomes apparent in following generations. [...]

Helen Redfield - The maternal inheritance of a sex-limited lethal effect in Drosophila melanogaster

in Genetics. 11.5 (1926): 482-502

[...] Garrod was a pioneer of the development of early prehistoric archaeology in three main ways: first, by advocating and implementing in her own research a global approach to prehistory that made connections among continents — essentially taking prehistory ‘out of Europe’; second, by conducting expansive fieldwork over a vast geographical area; and third, by her seminal publications.  In total, Garrod produced over 105 publications, including fieldwork reports, reviews, academic papers, books, and monographs.

Garrod excavated almost every year between 1923 until 1968, excavating a total of at least twenty-three sites, in seven countries, across two continents: in France (13 seasons), then-Palestine (7 seasons), Lebanon (4 seasons), Britain and Gibraltar (2 seasons), and Bulgaria (1 season).21 The wide geographical range of her practical fieldwork experience was part of the significance of her work, especially as none of her contemporaries had at that time travelled or excavated so widely.

In 1926, Garrod published The Upper Palaeolithic of Britain, which brought the Palaeolithic period in Britain in line with that of continental Europe. It was both pioneering and pivotal in its consolidation of the Upper Palaeolithic on a national scale and demonstrated the significant contribution of Britain to worldwide prehistory. Garrod received a B.Sc. degree from the University of Oxford for this publication. In it, Garrod reviewed, synthesized, and evaluated the scattered array of typologically ambiguous and poorly excavated sites as well as identifying, describing, and naming a new Upper Palaeolithic “industry” — the ‘Creswellian’, which is firmly established in the chronology of the British Palaeolithic period today.

Garrod’s friend and mentor, the Abbé Henri Breuil, provided the opportunity for Garrod to lead her first independent excavation at the site of ‘The Devil’s Tower’ in Gibraltar. With the wealth of experience gained through two years working with and learning from Breuil in France, as well as four other major Palaeolithic excavations in France, including La Qunia with Henri-Martin, where the remains of twenty-seven Neanderthal individuals were recovered, and with the publication of The Upper Palaeolithic of Britain, which established her as a leading figure in prehistoric archaeology,  Garrod was more than ready to lead the Gibraltar expedition.

Excavations took place over the course of seven months between November 1925 and December 1926. The whole site was discovered to be Mousterian and the discovery of the skull fragments of a Neanderthal child established the significance of the excavations. Garrod aged the skull fragments as those of a 5-year-old child and made comparisons of some of its features to those of the finds at La Qunia, France, which she had worked on previously. Garrod named the child ‘Abel’ and the discovery made a great impact on her: in her photographic album is a picture surrounded by red stars showing Garrod sitting on a rock, holding the skull fragments of Abel in her hands. Below the photo, Garrod has written this description: “b. B.C. 20,000. d. aet. 5. Disinterred June 11, 1926. [...]

Kathryn Price - Dorothy Garrod: A Catholic, Woman Pioneer of Archaeology