“Massendinghaltung”: How a conference commentary became an “archaeologists’ old joke”

Abstract

Terms and concepts are constantly being re-created. Their invention und establishment are frequently retrospectively difficult to reproduce. Fortunately, the German concept “Massendinghaltung” (literally translated as “object stockpiling”) is a rare exception. This short concept history shows the possibility to trace it in all his interdisciplinary entanglements. Through the author’s participations at the whole process, he contributes a thick description of this development. Based on “travelling concepts” of cultural studies, the article focuses on translations and transformations in the past seven years. From a conference commentary in 2010, “Massendinghaltung” became today an invented tradition, labeled as an “archaeologists’ old joke”. This history-of science-report gives an insight in often unnoticed developments of new concepts.