Gustaf Kossinna

Who was Gustaf Kossinna?

Gustaf Kossinna was a linguist and professor of German archaeology at the University of Berlin. Along with Carl Schuchhardt he was the most influential German prehistorian of his day, and was creator of the techniques of Siedlungsarchaeologie, or "settlement archaeology." His nationalistic theories about the origins of the Germanic peoples influenced aspects of Nazi ideology; nevertheless, he was rejected by the party as their official prehistorian. That distinction was given to Carl Schuchhardt, the rival archaeologist who beat Kossinna in successfully assessing the value of the Eberswalde Hoard, the largest treasure ever discovered in German history, upon its discovery in 1913.