European J Archaeol 9 (1)

The article deals with the practice of phenomenological archaeological fieldwork, which is concerned with sensory experience of landscapes and locales. Phenomenological approaches in archaeology have cast light on aspects of past human experience not addressed by traditional archaeological methods. The article describes and explores three experiments in phenomenological archaeology developed in the context of the Tavoliere--Gargano Prehistory Project and carried out on Italian Neolithic settlement sites of the type known as villaggi trincerati. The authors' aims were both to develop explicit methods for this type of fieldwork and to combine phenomenology with other more traditional approaches, such as those concerned with technological, economic and environmental aspects of landscapes and sites. It is stated that their work also differs from other phenomenological archaeology in its concern with familiar, everyday experience and domestic contexts, rather than exceptional, special experience in ritual contexts. The authors consider how their particular approach might be used to further understandings of past lives. Includes French and German summaries.

It is usually assumed by historians of archaeology that the `concept of prehistory' and the terms `prehistoric' and `prehistorian' first appeared in Britain and/or France in the mid-nineteenth century. The paper aims to demonstrate that the Scandinavian equivalent terms forhistorisk and förhistorisk were in use substantially earlier, appearing in print first in 1834. Initial usage by Molbech differed slightly from that of the present day, but within three years the modern usage had been developed. The concept of prehistory was first developed at the same time by C J Thomsen, though he did not use the word. The Norwegian Peter Andreas Munch was probably responsible for introducing the concept to Daniel Wilson in 1849, and suggesting that an English equivalent to forhistorisk was required. Includes French and German summaries.