Katherine Maria Routledge (née Pease) was an English archaeologist and anthropologist active during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born into a wealthy Quaker family in Darlington, County Durham, she pursued higher education at Somerville Hall, Oxford, graduating with Honours in Modern History in 1895. Following her graduation, she taught courses through the Extension Division and at Darlington Training College. After the Second Boer War, she traveled to South Africa as part of a committee investigating the resettlement of single working women from England.
In 1906, she married William Scoresby Routledge, beginning a collaborative partnership in ethnography and exploration. The couple relocated to British East Africa to live among the Kikuyu people. Their extensive observations and research culminated in the 1910 publication of their joint book, With A Prehistoric People, which documented the culture and customs of the community.
Routledge is perhaps best known for her pioneering fieldwork on Easter Island. In 1914, she initiated and executed much of the first true scientific survey of the island, gathering crucial archaeological and anthropological data. Her efforts represented a landmark achievement in the systematic study of the region's history and culture, establishing her legacy as a key figure in early twentieth-century field research.
