Daniel J. Sherman, "Sensations: French Archaeology Between Science and Spectacle, 1890-1940" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

New Books in Intellectual History

In this episode, Sarah talks to Daniel J. Sherman about his most recent book, Sensations: French Archaeology Between Science and Spectacle, 1890-1940 (U Chicago Press, 2025). Sensations is a history of the early years of professional archaeology in France through two controversies – the first in Carthage in what the French protectorate of Tunisia and the second in the small rural community of Glozel in central France. The book shows how “archaeology as we know it today grew out of a fundamental tension between archaeologist’s scientific ambitions and their continuing need for media attention.” (1) Timely without being presentist, funny without being unserious, the book explores questions of embodiment, performance, photography, fake news, professional quarrels, and the mediatization of scandal.

The conversation explores the two sites of controversy as well as the network of professional archaeologists, amateur “collectors”, journalists, and others who shaped how the public understood and engaged with the ancient past. In addition to discussing the major themes of the book, our conversation delves into considerations of historical empathy, archaeological performance and “the dig”, and the story of a technical report that sparked Sherman’s interest in the relationship between media and archaeology.

Daniel J. Sherman is Lineberger Distinguished Professor of Art History and History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A scholar of museums, monuments, and commemorative practice in modern Europe, Dan has also researched the history of primitivism in the French visual arts as well as memory culture in late 19th and early 20th century France.

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