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Monday, July 18, 2011

Photographic archive of Dura Europos excavation

MORE ON DURA EUROPOS: The huge, and apparently mostly unpublished, photographic archive of the 1928-37 excavation of the site has been getting some attention from a sociological angle:
Study Sheds New Light on Archaeology of the Dura-Europos Expedition

By Dan McLerran Wed, Jul 13, 2011 (Popular Archaeology)

A new study of the photographic archives of one of the “big digs” of the 20th century reveals much more than artifacts and ancient architecture. It says something about a by-gone era in archaeology and the culture, psychology and practices of its participants.

A recent study of the photographic archives of one of the 20th century's most sensational archaeological excavations and discoveries lends powerful credence to the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words". Tucked away carefully within the archival collections of the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, more than 5,000 unpublished photographs taken between 1928 and 1937 recount a story in visual detail that cannot be fully told in the printed words of excavation reports, site journals or the popular press of the time.

[...]
(HT James McGrath.) This article is based on an article by J.A. Baird in the current issue of the American Journal of Archaeology, which you can find online here and which is available through JSTOR.

More on Dura Europos here and links.