A Classical Archaeologist’s Life: The Story so Far


Book Description

Sir John Boardman is one of the foremost experts on ancient Greek art. His autobiography offers a mixture of scholarly reminiscence, reflection on family life, travelogue, and critique of classical scholarship worldwide. Illustrated with pictures of travels, friends and home life, it reflects on his experiences of more than 90 years.




A Classical Archaeologist's Life: the Story So Far


Book Description

A Classical Archaeologists's Life: The Story so Far shows that a scholar's life is not all scholarship, though much of this book is devoted to the writing of books and, especially, travel to classical and other lands. Boardman is a Londoner, born in Ilford and attending school in Essex (Chigwell). His teenage years were spent often in air raid shelters rather than with 'mates' (all evacuated). There are distinctive 'aunties', the rituals of daily life in a London suburb. The non-scholarly figures live large in this account of his life, marriage, children, new houses. At Cambridge he learned about classical archaeology as a necessary addition to reading Homer and Demosthenes, even being obliged to recite the latter. And those were the days of Bertrand Russell's lectures in a university reawakening after the war. Thence to the British School at Athens to learn about excavation (Smyrna, Knossos, later Libya). His return from Greece was to Oxford, not Cambridge, at first in the Ashmolean Museum, then as Reader and Professor. A spell in New York gives an account of the city before the troubles, when Petula Clark's Down Town was dominant. There is much here to reflect on university life and teaching, and on the reasons for and problems with the writing of his many books (some 40), with reflection on the university, colleges and their ways. Travels are well documented - a notable trip through Pakistan and China, in Persia, Egypt, Turkey - with comment on what he saw and experienced beyond archaeology. A lecture tour in Australia provides comment beyond the academic. He visited Israel often, lecturing and publishing for the Bible Lands Museum. Several tours in the USA took him to most of their museums and universities as well many other sights, from glaciers to alligators.This book is a mixture of scholarly reminiscence, reflection on family life, travelogue, and critique of classical scholarship (not all archaeological) worldwide, illustrated with pictures of travels, friends, home life, and, for a historian, a reflection on experiences of over 90 years.




The First Black Archaeologist


Book Description

An inspiring portrait of an overlooked pioneer in Black history and American archaeology The First Black Archaeologist reveals the untold story of a pioneering African American classical scholar, teacher, community leader, and missionary. Born into slavery in rural Georgia, John Wesley Gilbert (1863-1923) gained national prominence in the early 1900s, but his accomplishments are little known today. Using evidence from archives across the U.S. and Europe, from contemporary publications, and from newly discovered documents, this book chronicles, for the first time, Gilbert's remarkable journey. As we follow Gilbert from the segregated public schools of Augusta, Georgia, to the lecture halls of Brown University, to his hiring as the first black faculty member of Augusta's Paine Institute, and through his travels in Greece, western Europe, and the Belgian Congo, we learn about the development of African American intellectual and religious culture, and about the enormous achievements of an entire generation of black students and educators. Readers interested in the early development of American archaeology in Greece will find an entirely new perspective here, as Gilbert was one of the first Americans of any race to do archaeological work in Greece. Those interested in African American history and culture will gain an invaluable new perspective on a leading yet hidden figure of the late 1800s and early 1900s, whose life and work touched many different aspects of the African American experience.




A Brief History of Archaeology


Book Description

This short account of the discipline of archaeology tells of spectacular discoveries and the colorful lives of the archaeologists who made them, as well as of changing theories and current debates in the field. Spanning over two thousand years of history, the book details early digs as well as covering the development of archaeology as a multidisciplinary science, the modernization of meticulous excavation methods during the twentieth century, and the important discoveries that led to new ideas about the evolution of human societies. A Brief History of Archaeology is a vivid narrative that will engage readers who are new to the discipline, drawing on the authors’ extensive experience in the field and classroom. Early research at Stonehenge in Britain, burial mound excavations, and the exploration of Herculaneum and Pompeii culminate in the nineteenth century debates over human antiquity and the theory of evolution. The book then moves on to the discovery of the world’s pre-industrial civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Central America, the excavations at Troy and Mycenae, the Royal Burials at Ur, Iraq, and the dramatic finding of the pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922. The book concludes by considering recent sensational discoveries, such as the Lords of Sipán in Peru, and exploring the debates over processual and postprocessual theory which have intrigued archaeologists in the early 21st century. The second edition updates this respected introduction to one of the sciences’ most fascinating disciplines.




Life-writing in the History of Archaeology


Book Description

Life-writing is a vital part of the history of archaeology, and a growing field of scholarship within the discipline. The lives of archaeologists are entangled with histories of museums and collections, developments in science and scholarship, and narratives of nationalism and colonialism into the present. In recent years life-writing has played an important role in the surge of new research in the history of archaeology, including ground-breaking studies of discipline formation, institutionalisation, and social and intellectual networks. Sources such as diaries, wills, film, and the growing body of digital records are powerful tools for highlighting the contributions of hitherto marginalised archaeological lives including many pioneering women, hired labourers and other ‘hidden hands’. This book brings together critical perspectives on life-writing in the history of archaeology from leading figures in the field. These include studies of archive formation and use, the concept of ‘dig-writing’ as a distinctive genre of archaeological creativity, and reviews of new sources for already well-known lives. Several chapters reflect on the experience of life-writing, review the historiography of the field, and assess the intellectual value and significance of life-writing as a genre. Together, they work to problematise underlying assumptions about this genre, foregrounding methodology, social theory, ethics and other practice-focused frameworks in conscious tension with previous practices.




The North American Review


Book Description

Vols. 227-230, no. 2 include: Stuff and nonsense, v. 5-6, no. 8, Jan. 1929-Aug. 1930.




The Historical Greek Village


Book Description

This volume presents the Protogeometric through Hellenistic material (ca. 970-175 B.C.) from ASCSA excavations conducted in the 1950s at Lerna in the Argolid, one of the most important prehistoric sites in Greece. The material derives from two main sources: burials from a Geometric cemetery near the settlement and Late Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic wells from the mound proper. Although the material consists primarily of pottery and other ceramic finds, it also includes human remains, animal bones and shells, coins, inscriptions, and bronze and stone objects. Heather Graybehl provides a petrographic analysis, Mark L. Lawall discusses the transport amphoras and import patterns, David S. Reese presents the faunal material, and David Scahill presents and catalogues two Doric capitals. This study not only gives scholars greater insight into ceramic developments in the Argolid, it brings much-needed focus to the material culture of a historic settlement not known for strategic trading, politics, or military prowess. Lerna VIII will greatly facilitate comparative studies with other modestly sized communities in ancient Greece.




Painting Antiquity


Book Description

Painting Antiquity explores the archaeological dimension of the works of these three artists: in doing so, it addresses how the aesthetic engagement these artists had with ancient objects represented a unique and important development in the cultural reception of the past.




Goethe


Book Description

'A. N. Wilson's biography of the German polymath is wild, brilliant and has all the intelligence to rival its subject' - Frances Wilson, the Telegraph 'Rich and full and passionate and intelligent and deeply needed for these murky times' – Ben Okri 'Exuberant and wide-ranging' - Miranda Seymour, author of The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys A spellbinding recreation of Goethe's life and work from one of our greatest biographers. Goethe was the inventor of the psychological novel, a pioneer scientist, great man of the theatre and a leading politician. As A. N. Wilson argues in this groundbreaking biography, it was his genius and insatiable curiosity that helped catapult the Western world into the modern era. A N. Wilson tackles the life of Goethe with characteristic wit and verve. From his youth as a wild literary prodigy to his later years as Germany's most respected elder statesman, Wilson hones in on Goethe's undying obsession with the work he would spend his entire life writing – Faust. Goethe spent over 60 years writing his retelling of Faust, a strange and powerful work that absorbed all the philosophical questions of his time as well as the revolutions and empires that came and went. It is his greatest work, but as Wilson explores, it is also something much more - it is the myth of how we came to be modern.




Ancient Lives


Book Description

Theory and Methods in Archaeology and Prehistory Written for complete beginners in a narrative style, Ancient Lives is aimed at introductory courses in archaeology and prehistory that cover archaeological methods and theory, as well as world prehistory. The first half of Ancient Lives covers the basic principles, methods, and theoretical approaches of archaeology. The second half is devoted to a summary of the major developments of human prehistory: the origins of humankind and the archaic world, the origins and spread of modern humans, the emergence of food production, and the beginnings of civilization. Learning Goals Upon completing this book, readers should be able to: Understand the basic principles of archaeology Summarize the major developments of human prehistory