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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Main Author:	Liisa Kunnas-Pusa
Format:	article
Language:	DA EN FR NO SV
Published:	Septentrio Academic Publishing 2021
Subjects:	Historiography History of archaeology Stone Age Enlightenment History of science Finnish history Modern history, 1453- D204-475
Online Access:	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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Eighteenth-century visions of the Stone Age

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