The History of Archaeology

by Romer, John; Romer, Elizabeth

• ISBN13: 9780816046263
• ISBN10: 0816046263
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Facts on File

Summary

Discusses the impact of archaeology on knowledge of ancient history, describes the work of renowned archaeologists, and includes photographs of artifacts.

Author Biography

John Romer is a graduate of the Royal College of Art. He began work in archaeology with the University of Chicago's epigraphic survey at Thebes in Upper Egypt. For the last twenty-five years he has alternated professional archaeology and interest in conservation with an international career of writing books and television series that he also presents to critical acclaim. John Romer lives and works around the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Table of Contents

Introduction	6	(5)
Into the Past	11	(47)
Herculaneum Docks: 1980
The Theatre of Herculaneum: 1736. Into the Past
Naples: 1763. Europe Intrigued
Copenhagen: 1816. Ordering the Ageless Past
Denmark: 1836-86. Worsaae's Misty Mounds
Hallstatt: 1846. White Gold and the History of the Fibula
Thebes:1881.Pitt Rivers' terminus ante quem
Cranbourne Chase: 1880-1900. Stalking Darwin
Piltdown: 1912. The Missing Link and Dawson's Dawn Man
The Vezere Valley: 1863. Lartet and Christy Arrange the Ancestors
Altamira: 1879. An Unimagined Past
Carmel: 1929. Neolithic Revolutions
Los Alamos and Chicago: 1947. Hard Time
Leakey's Laetoli: 1976. Walking Out of Africa
Nice: 1880-1980. Dining Out with the Past
The Treasure Seekers	58	(46)
The Valley of the Kings: 1922. Into Aladdin's Cave
Innsbruck: 1567. The Road to Tutankhamun
Hadrian's Villa, Rome. Statues For Home
Elgin and the Acropolis, Athens: 1803. Statues for England
Napoleon in Egypt: 1798. The Battle of the Pyramids
Institut d'Egypte, Cairo: 1798
Thebes: 1798-99. Exploring with the Army
The Young Memnon. Belzoni at Thebes: 1817
The Fruits of Enterprise. Belzoni at the Pyramids: 1819
Egypt: 1850. il ardh marsud: the Enchanted Land
Sakkara: 1854. Scenes From Daily Life
Dahabiya. Mariette on the Nile
Mariette Presents the Past
Mariette Bey: 1821-81
Digging by the Book	104	(36)
Heinrich Schliemann: 1822-90. At the Tomb of Indiana Jones
Excavating Homer. Schliemann at Troy: 1871
Schliemann at Mycenae: 1876. The Masks of Agamemnon
Iliou Melathron. The Palace of Troy
Return to Troy: 1889
Dating Schliemann: Flinders Petrie and Mycenae
Petrie at Tell el Hesi: 1890. Excavating Palestine
The Land of Abraham. Excavating Iraq
Once in Royal David's City. Excavating Jerusalem
Bethesda: 1958. A Place of Miracles
The Burden of Proof
Looking for the One Beginning	140	(32)
Pyramids in the Jungle. Stevens and Catherwood at Palenque: 1839
Il Zocolo. Mexico City: 1792. An Unwanted Past
Explaining Civilisation. Tylor and Christy in Mexico: 1856
Petrie at Nagada: 1894. Egypt and the Dawn of History
Sumer and the Dawn of History
Breasted and the Rockefellers. Chicago and the Ancient Orient
Henri Frankfort, Bonded Brick and Senator McCarthy
Mars Attacks? Pacal and Tutankhamun
American Firsts. Valley of Oaxaca: 1966-81
At the Service of the State	172	(32)
Konigsplatz, Munich: 1935. Acropolis Germaniae
Olympic Games. Adler and Curtius at Olympia: 1874-1944
Dreams of Greece. Regensburg: 1842
Konigsplatz, Munich: 1816. Greece in Bavaria
Improving Athens: 1834. Bavaria Restores the Acropolis
Improving Athens: 1931. America Restores the Agora
Just Like Old Times. Via Imperiale, Rome: 1924
The Altar of Peace, Rome: 1938. The Shadow of Augustus
The Boats of Nemi: 1927-44. The Ashes of the Past
Minoan Postscript: A Microcosm in Archaeology	204

Excerpts

Before archaeology, Western knowledge of ancient history hardly existed outside of the pages of the Bible and the writings of ancient Greeks and Romans. Besides revealing to us the treasures, tombs, and cities of previously unimagined peoples, archaeology has given us five million years of ancestors.
This beautifully illustrated reference traces the history of this science from its inception in 18th-century Pompeii to the present day. Detailed text and hundreds of full-color photographs describe the scientific advances made by key figures; renowned personalities of archaeology; and important events in archaeological history. Each of the book's five sections describes the history of one of the basic aspects of archaeology, including:
The search for treasure troves
The search for the origins of humankind and civilization
The search for scientific proof of the truth of ancient writings and of holy scripture
The constant, continuing search for ancient pedigrees for every modern nation and culture
The universal recurring question, What were our ancestors really like?
Archaeologist and author John Romer's personal viewpoint and clear writing, combined with photographs and engravings of locations and artifacts, allow the world of archaeology to leap from the page straight into our own imaginations.