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SUMMARY:Fossils in the Fayum: biogeography and colonial palaeontology in t
 he 1900s - Chris Manias (King's College London)
DTSTART:20200217T130000Z
DTEND:20200217T140000Z
UID:TALK137539@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jules Skotnes-Brown
DESCRIPTION:At the turn of the 20th century\, European and American palaeo
 ntologists expanded their research into colonial regions. Partly this took
  advantage of imperial expansion\, which formed a new context for natural 
 history collecting\, the increased influence of European and American muse
 ums\, and the development of geological surveys. It was also connected wit
 h new scientific research agendas\, with debates and researches on biogeog
 raphy becoming a major scientific concern. This paper will examine one of 
 the most high-profile instances where these areas intersected: the upsurge
  of palaeontological excavation in the Fayum in Egypt in the years around 
 1900. Expeditions from a range of countries and institutions\, including t
 he British Museum of Natural History in London\, the American Museum of Na
 tural History in New York\, and the natural history of museums of Munich a
 nd Stuttgart\, conducted excavations in the region\, seeking to acquire Eg
 yptian fossils and present them to public audiences in their home countrie
 s. This paper will examine how these expeditions interacted with one anoth
 er\, and operated through local intermediaries\, geological institutions a
 nd excavators\, as a case-study of the complex interrelations within colon
 ial science in this period. Moreover\, it will examine how the fossils col
 lected during these projects were understood to revise dominant interpreta
 tions of evolutionary and biogeographic history. They seemed to show the a
 ncestors of elephants\, manatees\, hyraxes and whales\, as well as a range
  of stranger herbivorous and carnivorous mammals\, and therefore filled im
 portant gaps in knowledge of life's history. In this way\, this internatio
 nal colonial project drew off a sense of mystery and purpose\, marking out
  Africa as a whole as an important centre of evolutionary development.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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