Oscar Montelius

Gustaf Oscar Augustin Montelius ( born September 9, 1843 in Stockholm, † November 4, 1921 ) was a Swedish prehistorians and Head of the Swedish Riksantikvarieämbetet ( Reich antiquarian Office) from 1907 to 1913.

Montelius studied at Uppsala University, where he received his doctorate in 1869. It dealt mainly with the Scandinavian Bronze Age and was among the first researchers who systematically dealt with the dating of prehistoric finds. He originated a method that takes advantage of the geography of the sites and the morphology of the finds. He coined the technical term of the closed discovery to the discovery of a hidden connection from the ground finding.

1877 Montelius was accepted as a member of the Kungliga och Vitterhets History Antikvitets academies, where he had previously worked as an amanuensis. In 1895 he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and in 1917 a member of the academies Svenska ( chair 18). In 1909 he was made an honorary member of the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory. In 1913, the medalist Erik Lindberg a silver plaque on the occasion of his 70th birthday (63 × 48 mm, Front: chest image to the left rear. Young woman in antique garb with flaming torch at the entrance of a megalithic tomb ). 1943 appeared in his honor two Swedish special stamps after the submission of paintings Emerik Stenberg ( Michel Nr 302-303 ).

Works (selection)

• The earlier periods of civilization in the East and in Europe. Asher, Stockholm 1903.
• Cultural history of Sweden. From the earliest times until the 11th century AD. Seemann, Leipzig 1906.
• La civilization primitive en Italie depuis l' introduction of metaux. Stockholm 1895-1910.