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| Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Subject | Archaeology |
| Genre | Reference work |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter |
| Pub date | 1924–present |
Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte is a German-language encyclopedic reference series on prehistoric archaeology and protohistory that has served as a central reference for scholars across Europe and beyond. Initiated in the Weimar Republic era and continued through the Federal Republic of Germany, the work interlinks contributions from museum curators, university professors, and national research institutes. It has been used by researchers associated with institutions such as the University of Berlin, the University of Leipzig, and the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut.
The project was launched in the 1920s amid debates involving figures connected to the University of Bonn, the University of Hamburg, and the Reichsanstalt für Bodenkunde, reflecting intellectual currents visible at the time in circles around the Rheinisches Landesmuseum, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft. During the 1930s and 1940s contributors included scholars with affiliations to the University of Munich, the University of Jena, and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; subsequent postwar reconstruction engaged authors from the University of Heidelberg, the University of Tübingen, the Max Planck Society, and the Akademie der Wissenschaften. Later editorial leadership drew on networks including the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection, the German Archaeological Institute, and the Saxon State Office for Monument Preservation, intersecting with scholarship at the University of Freiburg, the University of Kiel, and the University of Göttingen.
Editorial oversight has historically been vested in committees formed of professors and curators from institutions like the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, the British Museum, the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale, and the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, while contributors have hailed from a wide roster including the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the Sorbonne, and the University of Rome. Individual articles often cite work by authorities connected to the British School at Athens, the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, the Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, and the École Normale Supérieure, linking scholarship across networks such as the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the Union Académique Internationale, and UNESCO advisory bodies. Editors have coordinated submissions from specialists associated with the National Museum of Denmark, the Swedish History Museum, the Finnish Heritage Agency, the Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte at the University of Vienna, and the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Entries cover material culture, typologies, and regional sequences spanning Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and early historic periods, addressing finds associated with sites like Heuneburg, Hallstatt, La Tène, Stonehenge, and Çatalhöyük as well as regions such as Scandinavia, Iberia, Balkans, Anatolia, and Levant. The lexicon treats artefacts and ensembles connected to cultures and entities including Bell Beaker culture, Corded Ware culture, Yamnaya culture, Minoan civilization, Mycenaean civilization, Etruscan civilization, Nuragic civilization, Urartu, Assyria, and Phrygia, and discusses researchers associated with excavations at Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Knossos, Troy, Petrie Museum, and Niederbayern collections. Comparative entries reference scholarship linked to institutions like the Smithsonian Institution, British Museum, Musée du Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Victoria and Albert Museum.
Published by houses including Walter de Gruyter and circulated via academic distributors connected to the University Press networks used by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Springer, editions have been issued across political periods such as the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the German Democratic Republic, and the Federal Republic of Germany. Later volumes were produced during the tenure of editors associated with the University of Marburg, the University of Mainz, and the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg, with contributions coordinated through conferences held under the auspices of organizations like the European Association of Archaeologists, the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, and the German Archaeological Society.
The work has been cited in monographs and reference lists alongside publications from scholars at the Universities of Leiden, Zurich, Bern, and Basel, and in syntheses related to authors affiliated with the Institute of Archaeology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the Czech Academy of Sciences. Reviews in journals connected to the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, and the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Prähistorische Archäologie noted its utility for museum curators at institutions such as the National Museum of Scotland and the State Hermitage Museum. The lexicon shaped curricula at universities including the University of Manchester, the University of Sheffield, and the University of St Andrews, and informed exhibition catalogues produced by the National Galleries of Scotland, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and the Museo Nazionale Romano.
Digitization initiatives have involved collaborations with libraries and digital services associated with the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, the British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, and have interfaced with platforms operated by projects at the Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, the HathiTrust Digital Library, and academic repositories linked to the Open Access movement. Access has been mediated through university consortia at the University of Illinois, the University of California, and the University of Toronto, and integrated into library networks such as WorldCat and the Deutschen Nationalbibliothek catalogues used by researchers consulting holdings at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, the University of Copenhagen, and the University of Warsaw.
Category:Encyclopedias of archaeology