Montelius and Italy. Geographies of archaeological knowledge production c. 1870-1910.
Examination committee:
Docent Kerstin Cassel, Södertörns Högskola
Docent Gustav Holmberg, Göteborgs universitet
Professor Bodil Petersson, Linnéuniversitetet
Substitute member of the examination committee in the event of absence: Professor Erik Sjöberg, Göteborgs universitet
Opponent: Docent Emma Hagström Molin, Södertörns Högskola
Chair: Docent Anders Gustafsson, Göteborgs universitet
More info - abstract
The thesis investigates archaeological knowledge production between 1870 and 1910 through a case study of the Swedish scholarly couple Agda and Oscar Montelius and their long-term engagement with Italian archaeology. At its centre is Oscar Montelius’ La Civilisation Primitive en Italie depuis l’introduction des métaux (1895–1910), examined as both a publication and the outcome of a long-term research process. Particular attention is given to Agda Montelius’ role in this work.
Drawing on published works and extensive archival material, the study combines a microhistorical approach with perspectives from the geographies of knowledge and practice-oriented history of science. It follows archaeological work across journeys, collections, and scholarly environments, examining how mobility, documentation, access, and social relations shaped research in practice.
The study shows how Oscar Montelius’ comparative archaeology depended on sustained mobility and repeated engagement with objects, collections, and scholars. The conditions for such work varied geographically, affecting which materials could be documented, compared, and incorporated into wider chronological frameworks. Oscar Montelius’ scholarly authority developed through this long-term process, bringing individual achievement and collective knowledge production into the same analytical frame.
The archival material also makes it possible to trace Agda Montelius’ contribution to archaeological knowledge production. Her drawings, observations, and documentation formed part of the empirical and, at times, analytical basis of the research, while formal authorship only partially reflected her participation. The study further demonstrates how scholarly work was organised within marriage and household, and how gender and social position shaped participation and recognition.
By reconstructing the processes behind published archaeological knowledge, the thesis contributes to the historiography of archaeology and argues for a closer dialogue with the wider international field of history of science.
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