L'Abbe Henri Breuil: Archaeologist

Lawrence Guy Straus

doi:10.5334/bha.02102

Abstract

In his otherwise excellent book, A History of Archaeological Thought, Trigger (1989: 156) makes only one passing reference in a half-sentence to the central figure in the development of Paleolithic prehistory in the first half of the 20th century -- and manages to get his name wrong, confusing Henri Breuil with his long-time, close colleague, Hugo Obenrnaie . Thirty years after his death, Breuil's role in the history of Old World prehistory required more serious consideration. He was a seminal figure not only in rock art studies, but also in the archaeology of at least France, Spain, England, Portugal, South Africa, and China. Before I had read Trigger's work or Sackett's (1991) critique of my supposed misinterpretation of Breuil's theoretical stance (e.g., Straus 1986, 1987), I had presented a review of Breuil's contributions in the 1991 Annual Snead-Wertheim Lecture in Anthropology and History at the University of New Mexico (Straus n.d.). The following is a brief summary of some of my conclusions.

Highlights

Before I had read Trigger's work or Sackett's (1991) critique of my supposed misinterpretation of Breuil's theoretical stance (e.g., Straus 1986, 1987), I had presented a review of Breuil's contributions in the 1991 Annual Snead-Wertheim Lecture in Anthropology and History at the University of New Mexico (Straus n.d.)
My main thesis is that Breuil, while fundamentally concemed with establishing prehistoric sequence in both Paleolithic archaeology and cave rut, was, in terms of explanation, a theoretical eclectic
Cartai1hac) and lived to see early application of radiocarbon dating to the Upper Paleo1ithic

Summary

Introduction

In his otherwise excellent book, A Hist01Y ofArchaeological Thought, Trigger (1989: 156) makes only one passing reference in a half-sentence to the central figure in the development of Paleolithic prehistory in the first half of the 20th century -- and manages to get his name wrong, confusing Henri Breuil with his long-time, close colleague, Hugo Obenrnaie . My main thesis is that Breuil, while fundamentally concemed with establishing prehistoric sequence in both Paleolithic archaeology and cave rut, was, in terms of explanation, a theoretical eclectic.

Results

Conclusion