Harriet Hawes (1871-1945) was the first female archaeologist to head an excavation. A classicist and scientist by training, she worked on the Greek island of Crete, discovering the ancient town of Gournia, one of Crete's "ninety cities" of Homer's Odyssey. Despite her international acclaim, Hawes devoted much of her free time to social activism, becoming involved with political issues of the day.

Harriet Ann Boyd Hawes was born in Boston on October 11, 1871, to Alexander and Harriet Fay (Wheeler) Boyd. The fifth child and the only girl, Hawes grew up in a family of men when her mother died suddenly during Hawes's infancy. She was close to her father, a leather-merchant, and to her brothers, especially Alexander, Jr., who shared her fascination with ancient history.

Hawes graduated from Prospect Hill School in 1888 before going on to Smith College. She graduated with a B.A. in 1892 and an M.A...