Discovery of the Past [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Alain Schnapp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1997

Every civilized society, beginning with those of the ancient Egyptians and Chinese, has entertained a passionate curiosity about its predecessors. The means to that end is archaeology. This fascinating book defines the history of archaeology not as one of uninterrupted progress, but of the rediscovery and reinterpretation--often erratic--of forgotten observations. 370 illustrations, 68 in color.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

No society on earth has been without curiosity about its past, a trait that yields folklore and history. Alain Schnapp, a professor of archaeology at the University of Paris, looks at an allied curiosity: that about the things of a people's past. In this comprehensive, heavily illustrated history of early European archaeology, he looks at Greek and Roman ideas about what was to them antiquity; examines the first inklings of scientific archaeology in the Renaissance; and delves into the formation of the first professional archaeological societies in the 18th and 19th centuries. Schnapp writes with a keen eye for the telling anecdote, recounting, for instance, a German scholar's refuting a commonly held view that ancient burial urns had grown in potato fields by spontaneous generation. Schnapp makes occasional detours into archaeology on other continents, too. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

From Schnapp (Art and Archaeology/Univ. of Paris), a meticulously researched, beautifully crafted, and consistently absorbing history of the practice of archaeology from ancient times. Schnapp demonstrates that curiosity, even obsession, about the past were characteristics of civilized society from the beginning, and that the practice of archaeology is as old as humanity. Ancient Mesopotamian texts, inscriptions from early China, and the writings of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Plutarch show that a passion for history often arose from speculation about the origins of ruins, even if there was little historical methodology. Early archaeologists were not always historically minded: Schnapp notes that motives such as greed and piety (as in the collection of relics) often played a part in the collecting obsession, and early archaeological excavation sometimes was little more than looting. The barbarian invasions of Europe, and the hunt for treasure that ensued, obliterated much evidence of the classical past. While the monks of early Christianity played an important role in the preservation of ancient texts, there was nothing like a systematic study of the classical past until the Renaissance. Schnapp traces the systematic study of archaeology from the early antiquarians of that period (gifted amateurs for whom the study of antiquities was one of many scholarly passions) to the emergence of a class of professionals in the 17th and 18th centuries. Antiquarians, still mostly devout Christians, struggled to reconcile the Christian worldview with evidence of a past more ancient than the Bible indicated. Schnapp shows that with the development of a distinctive scientific methodology in the 19th century, archaeology was transformed from a branch of philology or religion into one of the natural sciences. A fascinating, highly intelligent look at man's obsession with finding evidence of his past. (370 illustrations) (Natural Science Book Club main selection) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: - (February 1, 1997)
• ISBN-10: 0810932334
• ASIN: B000IOF0R6
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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