Today German prehistoric archaeology is appreciated worldwide for its solid and meticulous work on primary evidence, for its careful source criticism, and for its prolific publications. It would be unfair, however, to limit the acknowledgment of German scholarship to these points alone. In the past more abstract ideas played an important role, especially with regard to the concept of writing history by archaeological means and, even more concretely, writing the history of prehistoric peoples.

Ulrich Veit

See also

German Classical Archaeology; Lindenschmidt, Ludwig

References

Arnold, B. 1990. “The Past as Propaganda: Totalitarian Archaeology in Nazi Germany.” Antiquity 64, no. 244: 464–478.

Bollmus, R. 1970. Das Amt Rosenberg und seine Gegner: Zum Machtkampf im nationalsozialistischen Herrschaftssystem. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt.

Gummel, H. 1938. Forschungsgeschichte in Deutschland: Die Urgeschichtsforschung und ihre historische Entwicklung in den Kulturstaaten der Erde. Berlin: de Gruyter.

Härke, H., ed. 2000. “Archaeology, Ideology and Society: The German Experience.” Gesellschaften und Staaten im Epochenwandel 7. Frankfurt: Lang.

Kater, M. H. 1974. Das “Ahnenerbe” der SS 1935–1954: Ein Beitrag zur Kulturpolitik des Dritten Reiches. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt.

Kossack, G. 1992. “Prehistoric Archaeology in Germany: Its History and Current Situation.” Norwegian Archaeological Review 25, 2: 73–109.

———. 1999. Prähistorische Archäologie in Deutschland im Wandel der geistigen und politischen Situation. Sitzungsber. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. München, Phil.-Hist. Kl. 1999, H. 4. München: Verl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss.

Kühn, H. 1976. Geschichte der Vorgeschichtsforschung. Berlin and New York: de Gruyter.

Leube, A., ed. 2000. Die mittel- und osteuropäische Ur- und Frühgeschichtsforschung zwischen 1933 und 1945. Dresden: Synchronverlag.

Veit, U. 1985. “Gustaf Kossinna und V. Gordon Childe. Ansätze zu einer theoretischen Grundlegung der Vorgeschichte.” Saeculum 35: 3–4, 326–364.

 ———. 1989. “Ethnic Concepts in German Prehistory: A Case Study on the Relationship between Cultural Identity and Archaeological Objectivity.” In Archaeological Approaches to Cultural Identity, 35–65. Ed. S. Shennan. One World Archaeology 10. London: Unwin Hyman.

Wahle, E. 1950–1951. “Geschichte der prähistorischen Forschung.” Anthropos 45: 487–538 and 46: 49–112.

Wiwjorra, I. 1996. “German Archaeology and Its Relation to Nationalism and Racism.” In Nationalism and Archaeology in Europe, 164–188. Ed. M. Díaz-Andreu and T. Champion. London: University College.

Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum was established in 1953 to make Getty’s personal collections of Greek and Roman antiquities, French decorative arts, and European paintings available to the public. Located first in one wing of a ranch house in a Malibu Canyon in California, the museum moved in 1974 into a Roman-style villa built on the same site. Designed with the assistance of Norman Neuerburg, the plans for the building were adapted from the ground plans of the original Villa dei Papirii in herculaneum in italy, which has not yet been fully excavated; various other Roman villas in pompeii and Herculaneum provided the inspiration for the building’s elevations and interior and exterior architectural details and wall paintings.

Although the museum as an institution has never participated in archaeological excavations, it has served as a resource and sponsor for archaeological and archaeometric research. Its collections now include over 25,000 ancient objects in various media; most represent the cultures of greece and Rome, though some examples of the arts of cyprus, Persia, and Egypt are also included. The primary collections include Cycladic sculpture and terracottas, Greek and Roman sculptures in stone and bronze, Greek and southern Italian vases, Greek and