Her work focussed on ancient Greece, uniting the theories and methods of history with those of social anthropology.
Humphreys (née Hinchliffe) studied Greek language and literature, ancient history, and philosophy at Somerville College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1957: as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a Master of Arts degree in 1959.
In 1955, she and Penny Minney, a fellow-student at Somerville, bought a keelless lifeboat and converted it into a sailing ship, in which they covered over 1,500 miles over the following four years.
She collaborated with Arnaldo Momigliano in running the Ancient History Seminar, before she took up a lectureship at University College London in 1972.
"[8] In it, Humphreys explained that her inspiration was a technological question concerning the design and use of ancient Greek ships, which she approached by sailing around the Aegean in an open, keelless boat.