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Project

L'Ancienne Belgique. Museums, archaeology, and the creation of national identity in Belgium (1870-1940).

Up until recently, the history of archaeology as a scientific discipline was seriously biased, as experts predominantly focused on the more spectacular excavations abroad - in Rome, Greece, Mesopotamia, or Egypt - while the rise of "backyard" archaeology in one's own country was largely ignored. Drawing on the rich - yet barely scrutinized - archives of the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels, the current project aims to analyze how the most important collection for national archaeology in Belgium took shape in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Tying in with some major debates in the field, we will scrutinize slow but sure processes of institutionalization, professionalization, and ideologization, by identifying the actors and institutions involved in "backyard archaeology", the techniques that were developed, and the link with nationalism and imperialism.
Date:1 Jul 2021 →  31 Dec 2022
Keywords:HERITAGE, HISTORY OF CULTURE, MUSEUMS, ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Disciplines:Archaeology of the Low countries or Belgium, Heritage and cultural conservation, Museum studies, Cultural history