Ancient Marbles to American Shores
Classical Archaeology in the United States

Stephen L. Dyson

320 pages | 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 | 20 illus.
Anniversary Collection
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"An engrossing book."—Minerva

"This volume should be in the library of every institution with a classics program."—Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"The first major historical study of this subject. . . . It is definitely a success."—Journal of Field Archaeology

In Ancient Marbles to American Shores, Stephen L. Dyson uncovers the history of classical archaeology in the United States by exploring the people and programs that gave birth to archaeology as a discipline in this country. He puts aside the common formula of chronicling great digs, great discoveries, and great men in favor of a cultural, ideological, and institutional history of the subject.

The book explores the ways American contact with the monuments of Greece and Rome affected the national consciousness. It discusses how the spread of classical style laid the groundwork for the development of the discipline after the Civil War and examines the period before World War I, when most of the institutions that led to the establishment of the discipline, as well as the first generation of American classical archaeologists, were created. It looks at the role classical archaeology played in the development of the American art museum since the later nineteenth century and considers changes in American classical archaeology from World War II to the mid-1970s.

Filling the void of information on the history of classical archaeology in the United States, this lively book is a valuable contribution to literature on a subject which is enjoying ever-increasing interest and attention.

Stephen L. Dyson is Professor of Classics at the State University of New York, Buffalo, past President of the Archaeological Institute of America, and author of Community and Society in Roman Italy.

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