A Social History of Danish Archaeology (Reprint with New Epilogue)

Abstract

Thirty years ago when I wrote “A social history of Danish Archaeology,” I concluded optimistically that archaeology was moving away from national history toward world history, linked to the expansion of a global economy. My own contribution was “Europe before History” from 1998. I also observed that professional archaeologists had taken the place of former historical activists and amateurs in managing museums and archaeological societies, and that the secondary audience for archaeology, the passively interested middle-class, was expanding and consuming history more than ever. A few years later, I analyzed the role of archaeological popularisation, nationalism and politics, concluding that nationalism was still the dominant framework. However, I saw the EU as a way out of nationalism. New expanding arenas for archaeological/historical consumption were the many new reconstructed archaeological environments and historical enactments that activated an interested middle-class in new, exciting ways. Activism had returned in new shapes. Consequently, I predicted a decline of traditional museums at the expense of such new “realistic” historical environments that reenacted both history and prehistory, and I saw, along with many other colleagues, cultural tourism linked to the presentation of real archaeological and historical monuments as the driving economic force in archaeological heritage. Finally, I recently concluded in a somewhat defeatist mode that the national framework for archaeology in Europe dominated research and the perception of the past more than ever.