Afterword

Hacking's Glyptodon

Abstract

Collecting in the field is a critical intersection between humans and the rest of the natural world. This afterword begins by suggesting what happens when practices of field collecting are downplayed or ignored, using Ian Hacking’s discussion of the fossil Glyptodon in Representing and Intervening (1983). It then surveys collecting practices in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on questions of the colonial power in relation to the development of new roles and practices. During this key period, naturalists engaged with a remarkably diverse range of geographical sites, established traditions, and the challenges of imperial bureaucracies.