Fossilization and Evolution are two competing concepts that define and are defined by the nineteenth century. The work of Cuvier generalized the study of fossils in the early nineteenth century before Balzac examined the social fossils of the Restoration. In linguistics as well, the scientific words fossilisation and fossiliser appear in 1832 followed by the expression moeurs fossilisées by 1845. Fossils of the ancien régime appear in literature throughout the nineteenth century while debris from the past fills up antiquary shops and novels. Ironically, the discovery of the cro magnon fossils in 1868 contributed to the popularity of an evolutionary model of human and social development. From Darwin's naturalist theory to Taine's and Comte's sociological applications to Zola and Maupassant's fiction, evolution came to mark scientific and artistic thought, particularly in the late nineteenth century.

Fossilization implies digging up the past, organizing the past and the present into static categories. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

• Caricature
• Classification
• Collectors
• Types and Social Strata (Aristocracy, Bourgeoisie, Ouvrier, Femme et homme comme il faut, Commerçant, Forçat, Parisian, Provincial, etc.)
• Moeurs fossilisées
• Historical models (Pre-History, Antiquity, Middle Ages, Renaissance, etc.)
• Literary –isms
• Dead languages
• Petrification
• Phrenology
• Idées reçues
• Underground (Subterranean, Subtextual, Subconscious)
• Legitimism
• Historical Novel
• Theater
• Fashion
• Le Démodé
• Species
• Archeology
• Cuvier, Balzac, Daumier, Mérimée, etc.
• Lavater
• Classicism

Evolution implies a biological progression as well as social, political, moral, linguistic and economic transformation. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

• Change
• Movement
• Le Progrès
• Positivism
• Futurism
• Social mobility
• Revolution
• Utopianism
• Socialism
• Sociology
• Darwin, Taine, Comte, Zola, Verne, Maupassant, etc.
• Fashion
• Republicanism
• Science
• Slang
• Dynamism
• Impressionism