The Organizational Context in the History of Archaeology: Pitt Rivers and Other British Archaeologists in the 1860s

1989 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Background Information ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Academic World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Special Committees ◽  
Individual Professional

The importance of professional affiliations in the history of archaeology has tended to be underplayed. There have been a number of histories of individual professional societies and especially of museums, both of which had significant roles in the institutional development and acceptance of the field during the nineteenth century (e.g. Clark 1925; Evans 1949a, 1949b, 1956; Hawkes 1962; Hinsley 1981). Also, both museums and professional organizations have been generally touched upon in the course of biographies of individual archaeologists—primarily as background information (e.g. Evans 1943; Woodbury 1973; Green 1981; Hawkes 1982). What has not been considered sufficiently is the pervasive character of professional connections and the institutions or societies that made them possible (Trigger 1985; cf. Levine 1986). Organizations, together with accompanying journals, charters, meetings, statements of policy, special committees and so on, form the very basis of a discipline. This was particularly true in the nineteenth century when many sciences or other fields of interest—including archaeology—had yet to find a place in the academic world (Woodruff 1923).

Stone Tools

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Culture Studies ◽  
Old World ◽  
Material Culture Studies ◽  
History Of

The focus of this article is stone tools. The history of stone tool research is linked integrally to the history of archaeology and the study of the human past, and many of the early developments in archaeology were connected with the study of stone artefacts. The identification of stone tools as objects of prehistoric human manufacture was central to the development of nineteenth-century models of prehistoric change, and especially the Three Age system for Old World prehistory. This article draws on concepts derived from interdisciplinary material culture studies to consider the role of the artefact after being discarded. It suggests that it is impossible to understand the meaning or efficacy of stone tools without understanding their ‘afterlives’ following abandonment. This article aims to complement contemporary metrical studies of the identification of stone tools and the description of their production. A brief history of the stone tools is explained and this concludes the article.

‘Professional’ Organizations in the Hellenistic World

2021 ◽  
pp. 520-533
Author(s):  
Ingomar Weiler
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Professional Athletes ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Hellenistic World ◽  
History Of

This contribution focuses on the development of the so-called ancient ‘professionalism’ in sport. Beginning with an often quoted passage in Galen’s Thrasyboulos and some critical comments by Plato and Euripides on athletes, the paper discusses the various definitions of professional athletes in modern scholarship (E. N. Gardiner, H. A. Harris, J. Jüthner, H. W. Pleket, N .B. Crowther, D. Young, H. Lee, M. Golden, D. G. Kyle). The last mentioned scholars show that the application of the nineteenth-century concepts of amateurism and professionalism to ancient sports is anachronistic. There, however, is no doubt that changes existed in the history of athletics since the foundation of the gymnasium. The rise of ‘professionalism’ is connected to this development. The second part discusses various types of ‘worldwide’ athletic guilds (synodos tōn hieronikōn kai stephaneitōn, ecumenical federation of athlētai). These guilds made efforts to retain guarantees concerning their privileges, exemptions, and honors. Two documents from the late Hellenistic period (inscription of Erythrae, letter from Mark Antony) illustrate these endeavours.

THEODORE VACQUER AND THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MODERNITY IN HAUSSMANN'S PARIS

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 157-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Jones
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Medieval History ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Urban Identity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Magnum Opus ◽  
The City ◽  
Archaeological Excavations

AbstractThéodore Vacquer (1824–99) was an archaeologist who excavated, directed excavations in and visited all archaeological sites in Paris between the 1840s and his death. In the latter part of his career, he served as assistant curator at what became the Musée Carnavalet, specialising in the Roman and early medieval history of the city. Taking advantage of the reconstruction of the city in the nineteenth century associated with the work of Paris prefect, Baron Haussmann, he was able to locate far more of Roman Paris than had been known before. His findings remained the basis of what was known about the Roman city until a new wave of archaeological excavations after 1950. Vacquer aimed to highlight his discoveries in a magnum opus on the history of Paris from earliest times to ad 1000, but he died with virtually nothing written. His extensive archive still exists, however, and provides the substance for this essay. The essay seeks to rescue Vacquer from the relative obscurity associated with his name. In addition, by setting his life and work in the context of the Haussmannian construction of Paris as the arch-city of modernity it aims to illuminate the history of archaeology, conservation and urban identity in nineteenth-century Paris.

Between Antiquarians and Archaeologists—Continuities and Ruptures (2002)

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Schnapp
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
The Other ◽  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Biological Anthropology ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Systematic Exploration ◽  
Semiotic Systems ◽  
History Of

The current renewal of interest in the history of archaeology has several causes, but it is primarily the result of the extraordinary extension of the discipline’s objectives and methods. During the last decades, the most far-flung regions of the earth have been subjected to systematic exploration, radiometric dating techniques have continually improved, DNA studies have contributed to the transformations of biological anthropology, and indeed the very process of human evolution has been cast in new light by the changing boundaries between human and animal behaviour. A natural science for many founding fathers of prehistory, a social science for those who emphasize its anthropological dimensions, archaeology has remained for others a historical discipline by virtue of its proximity to ancient languages and inscriptions. At one end of the spectrum, some archaeologists see themselves as specialists in material culture, able to deal with objects, both ancient and modern, as simultaneously technical and semiotic systems. At the other end, there are those who will put their faith only in the detailed approach of singular, particular cultures. To put the matter in extreme terms: it seems as if there is a universalist archaeology standing in opposition to a plethora of incompatible and irreducible vernacular archaeologies. In this context, appeals to the history of archaeology can be understood as recourse to the multiplicity of approaches and traditions characteristic of the discipline. The pioneering work of B. Trigger (1989) and L. Klejn (1973, 1977) has contributed much in this respect to our understanding of the development of archaeological thought. Until then, in effect, the history of archaeology was mainly conceived of as a history of discoveries, without taking much account of the ideas and institutions surrounding them. It is ironic to recall that the first syntheses of archaeology in the nineteenth century were rather conceived as phenomenologies of art (Müller 1830), or as histories of oeuvres and their interpretation (Starck 1880). It appears that the critique of the archaeology of art, during the second half of the nineteenth century, had as one of its side effects the rejection of a history of ideas in favour of one centred on discoveries.

How to Benefit from Received Ideas (2001)

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiktor Stoczkowski
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Molecular Genetics ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Western World ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Disciplinary History ◽  
Modern Physics ◽  
History Of ◽  
Renaissance Medicine

Like Gulliver, the intrepid explorer depicted in Samuel Butler’s novella Erewhon visits an odd country whose image, inverted as its name, is evidently that of the Western world. Throughout his travels, the adventurer converses with the eccentric scholars of Erewhon who devote themselves to singular enterprises, such as the formation of the ‘Society for the Suppression of Useless Knowledge’ (Butler 1985). If somebody were to suppress useless knowledge in this day and age, there could be a substantial number of victims. Fortunately, no one finds it necessary to question the raison d’être of institutionally established knowledge, provided that sufficient funds are available to ensure its survival. The question of usefulness is only raised where marginal knowledge is concerned. The fact that we question whether the history of archaeology is useful or not testifies to its marginality. For it is marginal, despite belonging to the history of science, a domain in which all disciplines should theoretically inspire historians’ interest to the same extent. This, however, is not the case. Historians seem to prefer studying either sciences considered as the greatest conquests of Western rationality (such as modern physics, Darwinism, molecular genetics, etc.) or theories supposed to be excessively irrational (such as Renaissance medicine, Stalinist genetics, Nazi biology, astrology, etc.). It is commonly believed that archaeology does not belong to either of these categories. The history of archaeology is as marginal to archaeologists as it is to historians. This is particularly apparent in France, where most archaeologists would not hesitate to respond in the negative to the question of whether disciplinary history matters to current scientific practices. Since the nineteenth century, certain French archaeologists and prehistorians have indeed written on the history of their discipline, but this activity was a task usually reserved for emeritus scholars who took it up in a somewhat nonchalant manner, as if to crown their archaeological œuvre, and probably motivated by the same reasons which prompt certain people, at the same point in their lives, to write their memoirs. There are some notable exceptions, of which are the works of Alain Schnapp, particularly his monumental The Discovery of the Past (Schnapp 1996).

An Alternative Account of the History of Archaeology in the Nineteenth Century

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita Diaz-Andreu
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Colonial Studies ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Disciplinary History ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
New Directions ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

Historians of science (whether philosophers, epistemologists, historians of science, or sociologists of science) have been stubbornly reluctant to deal with archaeology in favour of other disciplines such as geology and medicine. Most histories of archaeology have, therefore, been written by archaeologists and this book is no exception. Being trained in the subtleties of stratigraphy and typology does not, however, provide archaeologists with the necessary tools to confront the history of their own discipline. Many of the histories of archaeology so far written revolve around a narrow, almost positivistic, understanding of what the writing of one’s own disciplinary history represents. This volume attempts to overcome these limitations. Questions addressed have been inspired by a wide range of authors working in the areas of history, sociology, literary studies, anthropology, and the history of science. It uses the case of nineteenth-century world archaeology to explore the potential of new directions in the study of nationalism for our understanding of the history of archaeology. Key concepts and questions from which this study has drawn include the changing nature of national history as seen by historians (Berger et al. 1999b; Hobsbawm 1990) and by scholars working in the areas of literature and political studies (Anderson 1991); transformations within nationalism (Smith 1995); new theoretical perspectives developed within colonial and post-colonial studies (Asad 1973; Said 1978); the relationship between knowledge and power (Foucault 1972 (2002); 1980b); and the consideration of social disciplines as products of history (Bourdieu 1993; 2000; 2004). Perhaps historians and sociologists of science’s lack of enthusiasm to engage with archaeology derives from its sheer lack of homogeneity. The term comes from the Greek arkhaiologia, the study of what is ancient. It most commonly encompasses the analysis of archaeological remains, but the emphasis on what body of data lies within its remit has always differed—and still does—from country to country and within a country between groups of scholars of the various academic traditions. For some it revolves around the study of artistic objects, as well as of ancient inscriptions and coins, for others it encompasses all manifestations of culture from every period of human existence.

Mathematics in Context: A Case in Early Nineteenth-Century Korea

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Yong Hoon
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
History Of Mathematics ◽  
Academic World ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Root Extraction ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mathematics In Context ◽  
Intellectual Environment ◽  
Insight Into

ArgumentThis paper aims to show how a nineteenth-century Korean scholar's mathematical study reflects the Korean intellectual environment of his time by focusing on the rule of false double position and the method of root extraction. There were two major trends in Korean mathematics of the early nineteenth century: the first was “Tongsan,” literally “Eastern Mathematics,” which largely depended on Chinese mathematics of the Song and Yuan period adopting counting rod calculation; the second trend was Western mathematics, which was transmitted by the Jesuits and their Chinese collaborators from the late sixteenth century. There was also an intellectual transition in late eighteenth-century Korea when mathematics, which had been of only minor interest for Confucian scholars, became an important part of Confucian pursuits. We can gain an insight into the history of mathematics in Korea by examining and understanding Hong Kil-chu's (1786–1841) mathematical studies and the context of the academic world of his time.

Archaeology and Cultural Policy in Ottoman Tunisia Part II: Muhammad Khaznadar (1871–99)

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-252
Author(s):  
Ridha Moumni
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Colonial Authority ◽  
History Of ◽  
French Colonial

Abstract This article is the second part of a study focusing on Muhammad Khaznadar’s role in the history of archaeology in nineteenth-century Tunisia. Whereas part I traced the meteoric rise of Muhammad Khaznadar as a Tunisian cultural figure, the second part of this inquiry examines Khaznadar’s fall from power and the end of his monopoly over the country’s antiquities. Following the dismissal of his father, Mustafa Khaznadar, as grand vizier in 1873, Muhammad’s artifacts were seized by the bey. The Khaznadar collection then attracted the attention of the new grand vizier, Khayr al-Din (1873–78). Influenced by the activities of Muhammad Khaznadar, Khayr al-Din sought to create a national museum of antiquities. However, this project came to an end with Khayr al-Din’s dismissal and the subsequent arrival of French colonizers, who established the Bardo Museum (then called the Alaoui Museum) in 1888. The historical narrative written by the French colonial authority erased the memory of prominent Tunisian archaeologists and collectors who had been active in the preceding decades. This article seeks to highlight the important contributions of local Tunisians to the development of archaeological research and policies surrounding Tunisian cultural heritage in the nineteenth century.

The Confederate Catholics of Ireland: the personnel of the Confederation, 1642–9

1995 ◽  
Vol 29 (116) ◽  
pp. 490-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donol F. Cregan
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
Major Portion ◽  
Background Information ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient Lineage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ebb And Flow

The term ‘Confederation of Kilkenny’ is not of ancient lineage. It dates from the nineteenth century and, as Professor J. C. Beckett has pointed out, seems to have originated in the title of a book by Father C. P. Meehan first published in 1846. Those members of the confederacy which ruled the major portion of the country between the rising of 1641 and the advent of Cromwell officially designated themselves as ‘the Confederate Catholics of Ireland’. Their own description of themselves has been chosen to head this essay not because the pedigree of the term ‘Confederation of Kilkenny’ is insufficiently old or respectable, but simply because their official title accurately describes what the essay is about. It is not concerned with the general history of the Confederate movement, nor with its prolonged diplomatic activities; still less does it deal with the ebb and flow of its military fortunes; nor even with the governmental structures of the Confederation. Of course I am relying on all these for background information and illustration, and, in particular, use has been made of the fact that I have been able to determine the number, and to identify almost the entire personnel, of the Confederation’s successive Supreme Councils. The history of the Confederation, political, diplomatic, constitutional and military, has been taken for granted. I want, then, to look at the people who individually bound themselves together by oath to form the confederacy; more particularly, to look at those who were members of the General Assemblies—constituting, in effect, the Confederate parliament; and more particularly still, to look at the members of the Supreme Councils, which virtually constituted the Confederate governments. This essay, therefore, is concerned with persons—with ‘the Confederate Catholics of Ireland’. It will briefly discuss their family origins, their educational and cultural background, their professions or occupations, and finally their political outlook.

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