Anna Wilmans

Anna Wilmans grew up on the East Coast where her first introduction to archaeology was discovering Native American burials along the Connecticut shore, and an early 4-year-old’s fascination with burying coins for later generations.

Anna is a direct descendent of Alessandro Manzoni (March 7, 1785 – May 22, 1873), an Italian poet and novelist best known for The Betrothed (1827), and writing was a natural path.

She did her undergraduate work at Connecticut College and earned an MA in classical archaeology at the University of Missouri where she was mentored by Gladys Davidson Weinberg, a pioneering female archaeologist and expert in ancient glass. It was at Hebrew Union College with Dr. Weinberg where Anna’s passion for terracotta Roman lamps was born. This later became the subject of her PhD.

During her years in archaeology she participated in excavations in Israel, Turkey and Greece.

A chance encounter with Jiri Frel, a then curator of antiquities at the Getty Museum in Malibu, lead to her continuing her studies at USC.

However, before her PhD was completed, the first Getty scandal broke, Frel left the Getty for Paris, and Anna was left with no mentor. Fortunately, she was offered an internship in the Asian Art department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), resulting in the completion of her PhD.

Misogyny in the academic world, coupled with the disturbing revelations of the Getty Scandals led her away from the world of archaeology, spending the next several years on a ranch in Nevada.

Most recently, Anna has returned to California and has had her interest in archaeology rekindled by the Chumash land where she lives. In addition, she is currently devoting time to wildlife conservation in this area, notably the mountain lion.

She has written catalogs of ancient art, numerous scholarly articles on archaeological subjects, and contributed to books of art and antiquities.

Anna is an active member of The Archaeological Institute of America, Sisters in Crime, and is a Fellow of The Explorers Club.