One afternoon in late April 1859 two geologically minded businessmen, John Evans and Joseph Prestwich, found and photographed the proof for great human antiquity. Their evidence -- small, hand-held stone tools found in the gravel quarries of the Somme among the bones of ancient animals -- shattered the timescale of Genesis and kicked open the door for a time revolution in human history.
In the space of a calendar year, and at a furious pace, the relationship between humans and time was forever changed. This interpretation of deep human history was shaped by the optimistic decade of the 1850s, the Victorian Heyday in the age of equipoise. Proving great human antiquity depended on matching the principles of geology with the personal values of scientific zeal and perseverance; qualities which time-revolutionaries such as Evans and Prestwich had in abundance. Their revolution was driven by a small group of weekend scientists rather than some great purpose, and it proved effective because of its bonds of friendship stiffened by scientific curiosity and business acumen.
Clive Gamble explores the personalities of these time revolutionaries and their scientific co-collaborators and adjudicators -- Darwin, Falconer, Lyell, Huxley, and the French antiquary Boucher de Perthes -- as well as their sisters, wives, and nieces Grace McCall, Civil Prestwich, and Fanny Evans. As with all scientific discoveries getting there was often circuitous and messy; the revolutionaries changed their minds and disagreed with those who should have been allies. Gamble's chronological narrative reveals each step from discovery to presentation, reception, consolidation, and widespread acceptance, and considers the impact of their work on the scientific advances of the next 160 years and on our fascination with the shaping power of time.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780198870692
Number of pages: 328
Weight: 568 g
Dimensions: 221 x 145 x 25 mm
As Gamble reveals in this compelling report, instrumental photos and even the flint itself (unearthed in the Natural History Museum at his prompting) had been overlooked until recently. Here we can read about the event...the characters, their world and the subsequent debate, detailed day by day in the text and extensive footnotes and references. If only the archaeologists had written a best-selling book at the time. Fascinating. - British Archaeology
This work delivers a fatal blow to the Victorian idea of separate spheres, clearly showing that the world views and life experiences of Evans et al. informed and influenced their ability to recognise, interpret and convince others of the evidence for the antiquity of humanity. Making deep history is archaeological storytelling at its finest, anchoring the birth of prehistory in the lives of the men—and women—who gave the world the gift of endless time. - Emily Hanscam, Journal of Antiquity
Making Deep History concerns the lives and work of four people who played a central role in the demonstration of human antiquity. [...] This entertaining book traces their biographies and the impact of their ideas - 162 years after their original discovery it does belated justice to the 'time revolutionaries'. - Richard Bradley, Current Archaeology
Making Deep History is an engaging and readable account of the mid-Victorian time revolution, which will be of interest to both those who are already interested in the concept, and those who are unfamiliar with it and want to understand its potential significance. - Chris Manias, Victorian Studies Journal
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