Description:
In the 19th century a number of new scientific disciplines made their appearance in Europe. Among these was archaeology, a discipline concerned with mans very distant past. Archaeology unfolded in a space created by the collapse of the pre-modern, biblical conception of history. This breakdown had left a void which archaeology, along with several other evolutionary disciplines, were able successfully to fill. By the end of the 19th century a vast number of archaeological collections, exhibitions and museums had grown up throughout Europe and stood as material signifiers of the newly established time-depth of man.