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The time revolution of 1859 and the stratification of the Primeval mind

The time revolution of 1859 and the stratification of the Primeval mind
The time revolution of 1859 and the stratification of the Primeval mind
Archaeologists regard the demonstration of human antiquity in 1859 as a major breakthrough in the development of prehistoric studies. However, the significance of this event, although acknowledged by other disciplines, is largely passed over. We investigate why this is so by examining the procedures that the antiquary John Evans and the geologist Joseph Prestwich used to make their argument. We present previously unreported documents from the Royal Society's Library that show how they built their case for a prehistory without history. Instead it fell to two other antiquaries-archaeologists, John Lubbock and General Augustus Lane-Fox, to flesh out the discovery of deep time. Lubbock supplied a contemporary human face for the makers of Palaeolithic stone tools in the form of Tasmanian aborigines, and Lane-Fox, through his artefact-based ‘philosophy of progress’, presented a model of a stratified mind that contained primeval elements. These events, which took place between 1859 and 1875, set the pattern for research into human origins for the next century
0035-9149
43-63
Gamble, Clive
1cbd0b26-ddac-4dc2-9cf7-59c66d06103a
Moutsiou, Theodora
25862e3f-7665-4119-8c30-fe5c3838303d
Gamble, Clive
1cbd0b26-ddac-4dc2-9cf7-59c66d06103a
Moutsiou, Theodora
25862e3f-7665-4119-8c30-fe5c3838303d

Gamble, Clive and Moutsiou, Theodora (2011) The time revolution of 1859 and the stratification of the Primeval mind. Notes and Records of The Royal Society, 65 (1), 43-63. (doi:10.1098/rsnr.2010.0099).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Archaeologists regard the demonstration of human antiquity in 1859 as a major breakthrough in the development of prehistoric studies. However, the significance of this event, although acknowledged by other disciplines, is largely passed over. We investigate why this is so by examining the procedures that the antiquary John Evans and the geologist Joseph Prestwich used to make their argument. We present previously unreported documents from the Royal Society's Library that show how they built their case for a prehistory without history. Instead it fell to two other antiquaries-archaeologists, John Lubbock and General Augustus Lane-Fox, to flesh out the discovery of deep time. Lubbock supplied a contemporary human face for the makers of Palaeolithic stone tools in the form of Tasmanian aborigines, and Lane-Fox, through his artefact-based ‘philosophy of progress’, presented a model of a stratified mind that contained primeval elements. These events, which took place between 1859 and 1875, set the pattern for research into human origins for the next century

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e-pub ahead of print date: 12 January 2011
Published date: March 2011
Organisations: Archaeology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 336322
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/336322
ISSN: 0035-9149
PURE UUID: 9277a7a0-2290-43c6-bd85-5ddd710d2d0b

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Date deposited: 22 Mar 2012 11:29
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 10:41

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Contributors

Author: Clive Gamble
Author: Theodora Moutsiou

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