Where is Schliemann?

In the last issue of the newspaper, I mentioned the statement of the archaeologist Mallowan (Malowan) in a poem by Agatha Christie:

...This is the work we, archaeologists, do.
We can't afford wealth.
But archaeologists live long
And healthy as bulls.

As for health, Agatha Christie’s hero boasted, but as for wealth, everything is true. In recent years, I have been studying the history of archeology and other sciences a lot and have had the opportunity to see from many examples that these sciences do not bring wealth, but rather require wealth. Countess Uvarova, long-time chairman of the Moscow Archaeological Society, said: “Archaeology is the science of rich people.”

What is characteristic of all outstanding figures in archeology is their material selflessness. Digging up flints and clay shards, and (occasionally) gold and precious stones, they did not take anything for themselves. Thefts are the rarest exceptions and everything goes against them (the excavations of D.G. Shultz near the village of Kelermesskaya at the beginning of the twentieth century are the most famous example).

Rich people were among the heroes of archeology. This is a well-born French aristocrat, Count Caylus, a participant in the War of the Spanish Succession, whose full name was: Anne-Claude-Philippe de Tubières de Grimore de Pestel de Levi, Comte de Queylus. In the first half of the 18th century, at his own expense, he published a seven-volume catalog of ancient antiquities, including Oriental and Gallic ones. These were his own collections. There were no photographs yet. An excellent engraver himself, he became a member of the Academy of Painting and the Academy of Inscriptions. In addition, Caylus hired draftsmen and draughtsmen and instructed them to make accurate sketches (on the verge of drawings) of many ancient things for his albums.

This is also the most famous of the archaeologists Heinrich Schliemann, who excavated in 1879-1890. Homer's supposed Troy and Mycenae. He dug both Troy and Mycenae with his own funds - with the money he earned in Russia. He brought indigo dye to Russia by ship, and also traded in saltpeter for gunpowder. While he lived and worked in Russia (almost 20 years), he was a great Russian patriot. “My magical Petersburg,” he wrote. Then his sympathies shifted somewhat. Towards the end of his life he lived in Greece. We can say that he discovered the Mycenaean culture to archeology and gave reality to the Homeric poems.

Next, we must include the English officer Lane Fox, who, around the same time, inherited a huge estate and name from a wealthy relative of Baron Rivers and became Pitt Rivers (under this name he became famous), used his new opportunities to develop archeology and developed an evolutionist concept . General Pitt Rivers also laid the foundations of field archeology - excavation techniques. He excavated many sites and is called the father of British archaeology. He was an authoritarian man, did not speak to his wife almost all his life and was at odds with all his children. He rode around his excavations in a high carriage, followed by three of his assistants on bicycles (still early ones, with huge wheels), with a ribbon of the Rivers family colors on their straw boater hats and with diaries in their hands to carefully record everything they discovered.

Then it was the wealthy American Walter Taylor (this was after the Second World War), who could afford to carry out excavations at his own expense and created the very influential concept of the “adjacent approach” with which functionalism entered archeology. This was subsequently reflected in different versions of contextualism. It would seem that everything is simple - not to connect pots of the same type with each other or the same type of flints, but a pot with a knife and an ax - in one complex. But this required the work of the mind and a shift in research goals. For his sharp criticism of his venerable colleagues, regardless of their faces, other American archaeologists did not like him and did not allow him to teach at major US universities. But being independent, he did not need this and worked independently. Could he have done this if not for his own considerable funds?

But all these riches used for archeology are not riches produced by archaeology. At best, success in it could bring modest wealth and prosperity - in a prosperous country where professors are valued. In most cases, archaeologists are always looking for money. Some were successful in this search - they found sponsors. Edward Larte, one of the discoverers of the Paleolithic, found his philanthropist - the banker Christie, who financed his excavations. Colin Renfrew, the current patriarch of British archeology (who received the title of Lord Camsthorne for his scientific and public activities), found his sponsor, MacDonald, with whose funds he built a new archaeological institute in the center of Cambridge. Christian Christiansen, a Danish archaeologist now working in Sweden, knew how to mobilize money from various foundations. He founded the European Association of Archeology and produced many interesting works.

Now Russian archaeologists have learned the art of this search, but have not yet become proficient in it. Schliemann’s case, when a born archaeologist who is aware of his tasks saves money for half his life and digs for the second half of his life, is still a beautiful fairy tale. This is told in countless biographies of Schliemann, but they are all based on his autobiography. And his autobiography was invented by himself. In fact, he was simply a rich man, a Russified German, disillusioned with the meaning of merchant life, who decided to take up science himself - and chose archeology. Before that, he had not studied ancient languages, had not dreamed of excavating Troy, and had not even thought of becoming an archaeologist. As a boy, on the gate of the fence of his house in Germany, he carved the inscription: “Heinrich Schliemann Matrose.” This is what he dreamed of as a child - and he realized his dream by running away to become a cabin boy. His wanderings in search of work led him to Russia, where he became rich, but where merchants did not yet have a high status. Having made friends with German professors in St. Petersburg, he changed his life orientations and went first on a trip around the world, and then to Homer’s places. And he redid his biography in order to quell rumors about himself as an ordinary gold digger. I came up with a romantic life story...

Such transitions are rare. It also happens the other way around. Sometimes talented people, unable to find themselves in science and unable to withstand economic stress, leave archeology for business and industry. This happened in England (Higgs's students), and it happens here too. One of my students, a candidate of science, an employee of the Academy of Sciences, went to Germany to support his family and became a driver there.

Unfortunately, we can’t find Schliemann, Christie’s or McDonald’s here. Our archaeologists often scold Schliemann - he learned to dig on monuments, and he destroyed a lot, and often lied. But his colleagues were other St. Petersburg merchants, and there were tons of them. Many people were burdened by the senselessness of making money for the sake of making money. The Ponomarev family was richer than him. One of them (city chronicles call him Pronka Ponomarev) became famous for depriving the entire population of St. Petersburg of cab drivers for the holiday. He hired them all, sat in the first carriage himself, and ordered everyone else to follow him in a train throughout the city. Show off - know ours! Alas, we have many who want to repeat Pronka’s exploits, but I don’t know any followers of Schliemann among our rich people. They give willingly and a lot to the church - well, you have to atone for your sins! And science promises nothing in return except glory and satisfaction. Well, you can’t feed your family with fame, and for discoveries to bring happiness, you probably need to be not a consumer, but a creator.

Lev Klein