What is the difference between provenance and provenience

I can relate. People were somewhat shorter back then. Recent historical research on average heights in the population in England over the past couple of centuries shows that men were shorter by between 2 to perhaps 3 inches in the very early decades of the 19th century than they are today.

How much shorter, on average, were doorways and doors a couple of hundred years ago? He presents data for the mean height of English adult males between to It is Historical Paper , published October Setting aside that minor objection about painfully low doorways, I do have a somewhat more substantive issue to raise with Bryson.

I have a sense that rectors, with few obligations associated with their position, had plenty of time on their hands and, as a result, were able to be in the vanguard of the mania for natural history exploration and collecting that gripped a large swath of the population on both sides of the Atlantic during this period.

Some went in for geology and the natural sciences. Others became antiquaries. But, what of the concomitant drive to display what one found and the effect that had on, at least, the furniture in the house, if not one of its rooms? As already noted, the box when it came to light in the attic was full of Native American projectile points with a rock and piece of coral, thrown in. Noel D. These are amazing artifacts of cultural history, utilitarian, of course, but also strikingly beautiful.

Posted by Tony Edger at AM. Labels: Bill Bryson , cabinets of curiosities , Native American projectile points , provenance , provenience. Anonymous September 26, at AM. Tony Edger September 26, at PM. Newer Post Older Post Home. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Nov. Time Traveler. Love words? Need even more definitions? Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". An archaeological item can therefore have both a provenience where it was found and a provenance where it has been since it was found.

In some cases, the provenance may include a history that predates its burial in the ground, as well as a history after its rediscovery. The obsidian might be identified as originating from Arizona but the arrowhead might be identified as Hopewell culture, having been excavated from a mound in Ohio; then purchased by a museum in California and later de-accessioned to an antique dealer in New York who made it into a pendant and sold it to a collector in China.

All of that represents the provenance of the artifact. The provenience is represented by its archaeological recovery from the mound in Ohio. Tags: None. Yes No. OK Cancel. Provenance: What Is the Difference? Provenience vs. Anxious vs. Eager: How to Use the Right Word. Archaeological Dating: Stratigraphy and Seriation. What's the Difference Between Flammable and Inflammable? What Is Chain of Custody? Definition and Examples. Glossary of Common Land and Property Terms. Prehistoric Stone Tools Categories and Terms.

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