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1859 + 150: Time depth and process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Colin Renfrew*
Affiliation:
*McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK

Extract

In a single year two of the fundamental principles for the study of antiquity were established: chronology and process. Both have been elaborated and re-visited since: chronology most significantly 90 years later in 1949 with the development of radiocarbon dating by Willard Libby. That these two foundations should be established in the ambit of a single year – 1859 – is remarkable, and worthy of celebration.

Type
Debate
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2009

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