Petrie and the Intriguing Idiosyncrasies of Racism

William Matthews Flinders Petrie, ‘generally regarded asthe father of modern Near Eastern archaeology’ (Silberman 1991:80), is remembered as averitable genius, renowned for his powerful memory and intellectual abilities whichplayed an important part in many of the ground-breaking developments in methodology hebrought about. Yet modern archaeologists are selective in deciding which parts ofPetrie’s legacy are to be highlighted. As a corrective to this, Silberman (1991, 1999)has not only drawn attention to the racist ideology that permeated Petrie’s thinking,but also suggests that this framework of thought crucially influenced many of hisrevolutionary interpretive techniques. The final deed Petrie envisaged for himself wasthe donation of his head to the Royal College of Surgeons in London ‘for furtherscientific study . . . [and] as a specimen of a typical British skull’ (Drower1985:424). As far as Silberman (1999) is concerned, such an act was wholly symbolic ofPetrie’s raciallyinformed viewpoint and of his self-identity