Creating prehistory : Druids, ley hunters and archaeologists in pre-war Britain / Adam Stout.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stout, Adam.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anthropology--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Anthropology.

Archaeology--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Archaeology.

Prehistoric peoples--Great Britain.

Prehistoric peoples.

Antiquities, Prehistoric--Great Britain.

Antiquities, Prehistoric.

Great Britain--Antiquities.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (304 p. ) ill., maps.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Malden, MA ; Oxford : Blackwell, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

'Creating Prehistory' investigates the origins of professional archaeology in Britain during the inter-war period. The text addresses the ongoing debates of the significance of sites such as Stonehenge, Avebury, and Maiden Castle.

Creating Prehistory deals even-handedly and sympathetically with the creation of several different sorts of prehistory during the volatile period between the two World Wars. Investigates the origins of professional archaeology in Britain during the inter-war period Brings to life many fascinating and controversial personalities and their creeds, including the archaeologists O. G. S. Crawford, Mortimer Wheeler and Gordon Childe; Grafton Elliot Smith and W. H. R. Rivers (of 'Regeneration' fame); Alfred Watkins and The Old Straight Track; and the thunderous George Watson Macgregor Reid, who brought the Druids back to Stonehenge Examines the production of archaeological knowledge as a social process, and the relationship between personalities, institutions, ideology, and power Addresses the ongoing debates of the significance of sites such as Stonehenge, Avebury, and Maiden Castle In this highly original account, Adam Stout demonstrates for the first time how a generation of determined and scientifically minded young archaeologists succeeded in creating the discipline of today. Creating Prehistory deals even-handedly and sympathetically with the creation of several different sorts of prehistory during the volatile period between the two World Wars. The author weaves a fascinating tale of the personalities and institutions involved in the development of archaeology and the marginalization of its competitors. He investigates the influence of the Diffusionists and their much-neglected pacifism, the controversial reappearance of the Druids at Stonehenge, and the sensational popularity of The Old Straight Track . This book is a must-read for anyone interested in today's fascination with the prehistoric past.

Contents:

Manufacturing the past : the Victorian background

Establishing the discipline

Containing the amateurs

Making progress

The politics of socialism

The diffusion heresy : nurture and the primitive

Establishing diffusion

A clash of narratives : diffusion and the archaeologists

The esoteric revival

The universal bond

Stonehenge : a mecca of Celtic idealism

The aesthetics of order

The old straight track

The straight track postal club

Straight track to beyond

Visions of civilization.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [280]-303) and index.

ISBN:

9786612124167

9781282124165

1282124161

9781444302912

1444302914

9781444302929

1444302922

OCLC:

352745592