Between antiquarians and archaeologists — continuities and ruptures

Antiquity ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (291) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Schnapp
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
The Other ◽  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Biological Anthropology ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Systematic Exploration ◽  
Semiotic Systems ◽  
History Of

The current renewal of interest in the history of archaeology can be explained in several ways, and notably in view of the extraordinary extension of the discipline's objects and methods. In 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 heen cast in new light by the changing boundaries between humanity and animality. 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 ohjects, both ancient and modern, as simultaneously technical and semiotic systems. At the other end, there are those who will only put their faith in the detailed approach of singular, particular cultures. To put the matter in extreme terms; it seems as if there existed a universalist archaeology standing in opposition to a plethora of incompatible and irreducible vernacular archaeologies.

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.

Imagining the Woman Reader in the Age of Dante

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Lombardi
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
The Other ◽  
Women Readers ◽  
Literary Authority ◽  
Woman Reader ◽  
History Of ◽  
Female Literacy ◽  
Female Audience ◽  
Shed Light

The literature of the Italian Due- and Trecento frequently calls into play the figure of a woman reader. From Guittone d’Arezzo’s piercing critic, the ‘villainous woman’, to the mysterious Lady who bids Guido Cavalcanti to write his grand philosophical song, to Dante’s female co-editors in the Vita Nova and his great characters of female readers, such as Francesca and Beatrice in the Comedy, all the way to Boccaccio’s overtly female audience, this particular sort of interlocutor appears to be central to the construct of textuality and the construction of literary authority in these times. The aim of this book is to shed light on this figure by contextualizing her within the history of female literacy, the material culture of the book, and the ways in which writers and poets of earlier traditions (in particular Occitan and French) imagined her. Its argument is that these figures of women readers are not mere veneers between a male author and a ‘real’ male readership, but that, although fictional, they bring several advantages to their vernacular authors, such as orality, the mother tongue, the recollection of the delights of early education, literality, freedom in interpretation, absence of teleology, the beauties of ornamentation and amplification, a reduced preoccupation with the fixity of the text, the pleasure of making mistakes, dialogue with the other, the extension of desire, original simplicity, and new and more flexible forms of authority.

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.

LEONARDO DA VINCI’S AND NICOLAUS STENO’S GEOLOGY

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-331
Author(s):  
GIAN BATTISTA VAI
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Evaluation ◽  
Geological History ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Angular Unconformity ◽  
Geologic Time ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Relative Chronology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Do So

Anniversaries for the two founding fathers of geology occurring in the same year prompted a comparative evaluation of how the two contributed to establishing the basic principles of the discipline. To do so, passages from their publications, codices and manuscripts have been quoted directly. The Stenonian principles (‘original horizontality’, ‘original continuity’, and ‘superposition of individual strata’) are present in Leonardo’s notebooks amazingly formulated, using similar wording when studying the same area more than 150 years earlier. Also, Stenonian priority in naming and explaining geological concepts and processes (e.g., faulting, folding, angular unconformity, relative chronology) are mirrored in Leonardo’s writings and pictorial works. While Steno enjoys priority in stepwise restoration of the geological history of a given region, Leonardo was the first to construct a 3D geological profile representation and geomorphologic maps. Lastly, the paper focuses on diverging stances of the two savants about the Noachian Deluge and the age of the Earth. Already 500 years ago, Leonardo had solved the question of marine fossil remains of organic origin found in the mountains implying the possibility of deep geologic time in a statement of ‘eternalism’. 350 years ago, Steno solved the same question in a different way in which he retained a basic role for the Deluge and assumed a short age for the Earth by focusing mainly on short-lived sedimentary and geomorphologic processes.

Review of Hill (2019): The Historical Phonology of Tibetan, Burmese, and Chinese

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-311
Author(s):  
Giorgio (Georg) Orlandi
Keyword(s):  
Significant Contribution ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
General Introduction ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Shared History ◽  
Systematic Exploration ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

Abstract The book under review serves as a significant contribution to the field of Trans-Himalayan linguistics. Designed as a vade mecum for readers with little linguistic background in these three languages, Nathan W. Hill’s work attempts, on the one hand, a systematic exploration of the shared history of Burmese, Tibetan and Chinese, and, on the other, a general introduction to the reader interested in obtaining an overall understanding of the state of the art of the historical phonology of these three languages. Whilst it is acknowledged that the book in question has the potential to be a solid contribution to the field, it is also felt that few minor issues can be also addressed.

scholarly journals The Contribution of the Religion of the Colonial Period to the Ideals and Life of the United States

1958 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 340-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Scott Latourette
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
New Order ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
New Nation

The Great Seal of the United States, designed in the early days of the Republic, has on it symbolism whose significance is often overlooked. On one side is an eagle which grasps with one talon a branch and with the other a sheaf of arrows. Above its head are “E Pluribus Unum” and thirteen stars for the original states bound together in one nation. The other side has on it an unfinished pyramid. The foundation bears the number MDCCLXXVI. Above the pyramid is the eye of God flanked by the words “Annuit Coeptis,” namely, “He smiles on the undertakings.” Underneath is the phrase “Novus Ordo Seculorum,” meaning “New Order of the Ages.” Here succinctly is the vision which inspired the founding fathers of the new nation. The thirteen colonies had become one, prepared to face together the exigencies of the future, whether for preservation in self-defense or for cooperation in the arts of peace. Here was an attempt at building something novel in the history of mankind—a new and ordered structure. That structure, as yet incomplete, was based upon the Declaration of Independence, with its best-remembered phrases: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Here is “the American dream.” As “four score and seven years” later Abraham Lincoln even more briefly described it, the new nation was “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” and its success or failure was a test whether “government of the people, by the people, for the people” could “long endure.” To that dream faith in God, in His creative activity, and in His sovereignty was basic.

In defence of the word

1977 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
Eduardo Galeano ◽  
William Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
South American ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Documentary Evidence ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
Almost All

During long sleepless nights and days of depression, a fly buzzes and buzzes around the head:' Writing, is it worth it?' In the midst of the farewells and the crimes, will words survive? Does this profession, which one has chosen or which has been chosen for one, make any sense? I am South American. In Montevideo, where I was born, I edited some newspapers and journals; one after the other they were closed down, by the government or by the creditors. I wrote several books: they are all banned. At the beginning of ‘73, my exile began. In Buenos Aires, we founded Crisis. It was a cultural journal with the biggest circulation in the history of the Spanish language. In August of last year its last number appeared. It could not continue. When words can be no worthier than silence, it is better to say nothing. And to hope. Where are the writers and journalists who produced the journal? Almost all have left Argentina, Some are dead. Others, imprisoned or disappeared. The novelist Haroldo Conti, or what remained of him, was seen for the last time in the middle of May 1976. Broken by torture. Nothing more has been heard of him. Officially, he was not detained. The government washes its hands. The poet Miguel Angel Bustos was taken from his home and has disappeared. The poet Paco Urondo was killed in Mendoza. The writers Paoletti and Di Benedetto are in prison: As is Luis Sabini, the journal's head of production: he is accused of possessing arms because he had a bullet to make himself a key ring. Our editor, Carlos Villar Arauja, was the first to go. In July 1975 he had to leave the country. He had published a courageous work, with documentary evidence, on oil in Argentina. That edition of Crisis was put on sale in the kiosks and, six evenings later, Carlos did not come home to sleep. They interrogated him with his eyes covered. The police denied holding him. Two days later he was flung, by a miracle still alive, into the woods of Ezeiza. The police said they had arrested him by mistake. They circulated lists of those condemned to death. The poet, Juan Gelman, editor in chief, had to take a plane. Some time later, they came looking for him in his home in Buenos Aires. As he was not there, they took his children away. The daughter turned up alive. Of the son and daughter-in-law, seven months pregnant, nothing is known. Unofficial government information indicated that they had been in prison and had been set free. The earth has swallowed them up. In such stormy times, the profession of writing is dangerous. In such circumstances, one recovers pride and joy in words, or loses respect for them for ever.

scholarly journals Islam dan Nasionalisme: Pandangan Pembaru Pendidikan Islam Tentang Nasionalisme (Kasus Ahmad Dahlan dan Abdul Wahab Khasbullah)

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-159
Author(s):  
Iwan Setiawan
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Islamic Education ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Social Communities ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nahdlatul Ulama ◽  
Looking Back

Abstract. Until this day, the dichotomy between “Islam” and “Nationalist” is still realized. The dichotomy makes the moslems not safe on their social communities, especially with the other religions in Indonesia. Finally, that dichotomy makes one big question, “Is Islam not nationalist?” This article tries answered “Islam is not nationalist?” by looking back on the history of two founding fathers of the islamic education and nation heroes. They are Ahmad Dahlan and Abdulwahab Khasbullah, the founders of two the biggest Islamic organization in Indonesa, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). By studying about two founder of islamic education in the colonalism era or before the independence of Indonesia, we can answered and explain the question above. The purpose of this article is to proofing that the islamic leader, Ahmad Dahlan and Abdulwahab Khasbullah are nationalist. Keywords: Pembaharu Pendidikan Islam, Nasionalisme, Ahmad Dahlan, Abdulwahab Khasbullah.

scholarly journals Vinča Burials in the Research of Miloje M. Vasić

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Palavestra ◽  
Monika Milosavljević
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Archaeological Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medieval Archaeology

Miloje M. Vasić (1869–1956) is considered to be the founding father of Serbian archaeology. This paper directly challenges, as based on detailed archival research, the prevailing view that his excavation of the Vinča archaeological site is a model standard for Serbian archaeology. Instead, Vasić’s handling of the excavation was selective, non-systematic and destructive when viewed today from the perspective of modern practices. Vasić originally gained authority based on the discovery of Vinča, a prehistoric archaeological site that contains layers from the Neolithic to the middle ages. In his zeal to uncover “prehistory”, he deliberately ignored the other archaeological layers present. The most significant example of neglected archaeological remains is his excavations of Vinča’s medieval cemetery where he did not document observations systematically. This prioritization of the importance of one archaeological period over another was reflected in the further development of archaeology in Serbia, so that medieval archaeology was treated as marginal and second-rate compared to others. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to contextualize Vasić’s approach through the methods used in the history of archaeology. The key research question thereof is how Miloje M. Vasić failed to document the burials at the Vinča site, which is the consequent reason why there is little to no documented evidence of them. The theoretical and methodological basis of the analysis is based on the approach of Gavin Lucas who views the creation of the primary field documentation as testimony. Lucas notes that the debate concerning knowledge production had drifted from merely an epistemological issue to a phenomenon centered around archaeological practice. Here the key questions have come to concern the social and material setting of knowledge production and not the objective coherence of the argument. Burials that were noted in Vasić’s documentation are categorized into four groups: 1) unwanted or medieval burials; 2) incidental burials originating from prehistory; 3) an “ossuary” from Vinča containing nine skeletons and 4) imagined multiple cremations based on one found cremation. Therefore, even while documenting several “lateral” prehistoric graves, he entirely omitted any thorough documentation of the medieval cemetery, considering them of less import. If there is any lesson that may be learned from this journey through the history of archaeological practice, it is that archaeological documentation as a form of testimony should be done ethically, adequately and responsibly. It should not be done according to the practices of the “bad science” of its founding-fathers.

Digging the Dirt in the Pursuit of Cleanliness

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Susan North
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Social History ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
History Of The Body ◽  
History Of

The introduction outlines the historiography on cleanliness and the influence of Georges Vigarello on early modern social history and history of the body. It reviews both the philosophical and the practical aspects that make researching cleanliness so challenging. On one hand, the prejudices of contemporary observers and commentators are acknowledged and, on the other, the practice of cleanliness is so habitual it goes unnoticed and unrecorded. The methodology for the book is described, first to use traditional documentary sources from a variety of media to elucidate what advice was given about cleanliness in early modern England. In order to determine whether such advice was followed, a study of the material culture of cleanliness is proposed and outlined, acknowledging that it may be more successful for linen than for bodies. Finally the drawing together of these various strands of research is emphasized.

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