Without Having Seen the Queen

After many years devoted to the study of the Minoan/Mycenaean cultural complex, Wout Arentzen became convinced that the archaeologist and his times are often as important for the interpretation of a culture as the archaeological finds themselves. To gain a better understanding of this aspect of the archaeological process, he began to study the history of archaeology. It soon became clear to him that the history of Bronze Age archaeology in the Aegean is directly linked to the history of prehistoric archaeology in Northern Europe. As a result of this, the focus of his interests has shifted from the Aegean to Northern Europe over the past twenty years. Relatively little work has been done on the history of archaeology in the Netherlands. Since Wout is Dutch, it was only natural that this field gradually came to occupy most of his attention. In 2015 Wout received the Heinrich Schliemann Medal for his contribution to the study of Schliemann and his support for the Schliemann Museum and the Heinrich Schliemann Gesellschaft in Germany. Publications: - Without having seen the queen. The 1846 European travel journal of Heinrich Schliemann: a transcription ans annotated translation, by Thanos & Arentzen (2012) - Schliemann and the Californian Goldrush. The 1850-1852 American travel journal of Heinrich Schliemann: a transcription by Thanos & Arentzen (2014) - Schliemanns dramatische Reise im Jahre 1841 by Arentzen (2011) - Schliemann en nederland. Een leven vol verhalen by Arentzen (20).