More‐than‐human charisma, iconic fossils, and palaeontologists in the United States

Abstract

This article develops a more‐than‐human conception of charisma to explain the interrelated magnetism of palaeontologists and prehistoric megafauna in the United States since the nineteenth century. It extends anthropological analysis of charisma to non‐human bodies, and argues that charisma is created by more‐than‐human processes involving tactile interactions among people and matter within particular social and political‐economic contexts. This historical and ethnographic study of a few iconic dinosaur specimens, and the famed scientists who have collected, studied, and mounted them, shows how the more‐than‐human charisma of vertebrate palaeontology has been shaped by the violent masculinity that rose to prominence in conjunction with the exploration and colonization of the western United States. It further demonstrates how the virile charisma of certain scientists and fossils continues to be a powerful force that mobilizes people to dedicate enormous resources and labour to them.