Eighteenth-century visions of the Stone Age

Archaeological concepts of prehistory and the Stone Age are rooted in nineteenth-century scientific discoveries, which extended the human past much further back in time than was previously thought. Without this deep past, the disciplines of archaeology and history would not be what they are today....

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Autor principal: Liisa Kunnas-Pusa
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Publicado: Septentrio Academic Publishing 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/fd7cc2d1ae984fdaa96e3caf0e88c942
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:fd7cc2d1ae984fdaa96e3caf0e88c9422021-12-04T20:57:24ZEighteenth-century visions of the Stone Age10.7557/4.59051652-47722001-9866https://doaj.org/article/fd7cc2d1ae984fdaa96e3caf0e88c9422021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/1700/article/view/5905https://doaj.org/toc/1652-4772https://doaj.org/toc/2001-9866 Archaeological concepts of prehistory and the Stone Age are rooted in nineteenth-century scientific discoveries, which extended the human past much further back in time than was previously thought. Without this deep past, the disciplines of archaeology and history would not be what they are today. However, when the division of prehistory into the ages of stone, bronze, and iron was introduced in 1836, it was already an old idea. Stone Age artefacts and the initial phase of human history were discussed in the eighteenth-century academic world, even though the periodisation of history was constructed differently. In the philosophy of the Enlightenment several ideas surfaced which were essential to the formation of archaeology as a scientific practice, and which still affect the way the prehistoric past is imagined. This article examines the concept of a prehistoric, furthest past in Finnish scientific texts, within the framework of eighteenth-century Swedish traditions of science and historiography. How did the scholars in the Academy of Turku view Stone Age artefacts that had a multi-faceted nature in the antiquarian tradition? In what way did their visions of the earliest phase of the Nordic past set up later nationalistic narratives about prehistory? Liisa Kunnas-PusaSeptentrio Academic PublishingarticleHistoriographyHistory of archaeologyStone AgeEnlightenmentHistory of scienceFinnish historyModern history, 1453-D204-475DAENFRNOSVSjuttonhundratal, Vol 18 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language DA
EN
FR
NO
SV
topic Historiography
History of archaeology
Stone Age
Enlightenment
History of science
Finnish history
Modern history, 1453-
D204-475
spellingShingle Historiography
History of archaeology
Stone Age
Enlightenment
History of science
Finnish history
Modern history, 1453-
D204-475
Liisa Kunnas-Pusa
Eighteenth-century visions of the Stone Age
description Archaeological concepts of prehistory and the Stone Age are rooted in nineteenth-century scientific discoveries, which extended the human past much further back in time than was previously thought. Without this deep past, the disciplines of archaeology and history would not be what they are today. However, when the division of prehistory into the ages of stone, bronze, and iron was introduced in 1836, it was already an old idea. Stone Age artefacts and the initial phase of human history were discussed in the eighteenth-century academic world, even though the periodisation of history was constructed differently. In the philosophy of the Enlightenment several ideas surfaced which were essential to the formation of archaeology as a scientific practice, and which still affect the way the prehistoric past is imagined. This article examines the concept of a prehistoric, furthest past in Finnish scientific texts, within the framework of eighteenth-century Swedish traditions of science and historiography. How did the scholars in the Academy of Turku view Stone Age artefacts that had a multi-faceted nature in the antiquarian tradition? In what way did their visions of the earliest phase of the Nordic past set up later nationalistic narratives about prehistory?
format article
author Liisa Kunnas-Pusa
author_facet Liisa Kunnas-Pusa
author_sort Liisa Kunnas-Pusa
title Eighteenth-century visions of the Stone Age
title_short Eighteenth-century visions of the Stone Age
title_full Eighteenth-century visions of the Stone Age
title_fullStr Eighteenth-century visions of the Stone Age
title_full_unstemmed Eighteenth-century visions of the Stone Age
title_sort eighteenth-century visions of the stone age
publisher Septentrio Academic Publishing
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/fd7cc2d1ae984fdaa96e3caf0e88c942
work_keys_str_mv AT liisakunnaspusa eighteenthcenturyvisionsofthestoneage
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