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Lost in Translation or Can We Still Understand What P olybius Says about H annibal's Crossing of the A lps?—A Reply to M ahaney [ Archaeometry , 55 (2013), 1196–204]*
Author(s) -
Kuhle M.,
Kuhle S.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/arcm.12115
Subject(s) - archaeological science , history , selection (genetic algorithm) , literature , event (particle physics) , classics , archaeology , art , computer science , artificial intelligence , physics , quantum mechanics
H annibal's crossing of the A lps is an historical event that is only passed down to us through ancient texts. Careful analysis of these written sources must therefore antedate and inform any scientific enquiry, including fieldwork. The random selection and investigation of topographical or sedimentological features, on the other hand, informed only by free translations of the G reek originals, is a misguided enterprise and can only end in futile conclusions. However, if both lines of enquiry—the critical analysis of written sources and the gathering of geographical evidence—are combined, it is still possible to reach positive conclusions. In the case of H annibal's crossing of the A lps, such combined efforts lead to the insight—first gained by J ean‐ B aptiste P errin (1887)—that the pass at C ol de C lapier in the M t C enis group concurs with all the descriptive details as given in P olybius' H istories.