HUMANISM AND NUMISMATICS IN 19TH CENTURY PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-10-02

Conventional historiography would have us believe that the transition from (old-fashioned) antiquarianism to (modern) archaeology, over the 19th century, took place through the positive impetus of the natural sciences. While this scenario is not entirely without its foundation (and reflects also some presentist or strategic self-interest in terms of discplinary positioning and funding), it leads us to overlook the deeply enmeshed interdisciplinary dialogues spanning from prehistoric archaeology to ancient history and classical learning. Indeed one of the most decisive and yet little acknowledged contributions to the establishment of high human antiquity, with long-lasting repercussions on Palaeolithic archaeology ever since, has been that of numismatics, especially in the hands of English polymath John Evans (1823 -1908). Drawing on new research and already published assessments, I argue in this paper that the interdisciplinarity of modern archaeology – in the 19th century as well as today, in theorisations and in museum practices – owes much more than we admit to the so-called disciplines of humanistic erudition. Drawing on new research and already published assessments, I argue in this paper that the interdisciplinarity of modern archaeology – in the 19th century as well as today, in theorisations and in museum practices – owes much more than we admit to the so-called disciplines of humanistic erudition.

Author(s): Schlanger, Nathan (Ecole nationale des chartes, Paris; UMR Trajectoires, Nanterre)