[3] Rosenfeld studied for a Master of Science and then obtained a PhD in 1960 from the Institute of Archaeology, with a thesis on the sedimentology of caves from sites in Devon supervised by Frederick Zeuner.

[3] Rosenfeld was appointed as a curator of Palaeolithic collections at the British Museum in 1964, where she was based until 1972, and guest-lectured at the Department of Anthropology, UCL.

[5] In 1972 she moved to Australia, with her partner Peter Ucko, where she taught at the recently established Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University (ANU) from 1973.

[2] During her time at ANU, Rosenfeld commenced several crucial projects for the development of Australian archaeology, where she applied her previous scientific training and research experiences.

[4] She taught a number of students who became leading archaeologists, such as Jo McDonald, Paul Tacon, Howard Morphy, Robert Layton, and Claire Smith.