Sensations, French Archaeology Between Science and Spectacle, 1890-1940

Sensations is a history of the early years of professional archaeology in France through two controversies – the first in Carthage in what the French protectorate of Tunisia and the second in the small rural community of Glozel in central France.

The book shows how “archaeology as we know it today grew out of a fundamental tension between archaeologist’s scientific ambitions and their continuing need for media attention.

” (1) Timely without being presentist, funny without being unserious, the book explores questions of embodiment, performance, photography, fake news, professional quarrels, and the mediatization of scandal.