Spells of History: Childe's Contribution to the European Identity Discourse

Abstract

It is now ten years since the Council of Europe's grand art exhibition 'Gods and Heroes of the Bronze Age – Europe at the Time of Ulysses' toured Europe as a means to 'increase the awareness of the value and the significance of the archaeological heritage' of Europe (AH 2008). Presenting the 'first golden age' of Europe, the Bronze Age exhibition was one of the first steps towards a more defined European cultural politics. The campaign represented something new in European politics, but the idea of the Bronze Age as a golden age in European history is not new. This article draws attention to the archaeological heritage which enabled such an idea to be put forward: Childean prehistory.