English translation of "an sich" and "für si

[Tiberius Clodius Corvinus]

dependes on the sentence and context.

Yeah, I should have mentioned that:

Heinrich Schliemann wanted to solve "historical questions" and was not really interested in the material culture of a civilization an sich.

hm, why use it at all? "an sich / für sich" is mostly used to reiterate a fact that is (or should be ) already clear from the same sentence.

... but to convey the stylistic meaning I'd think this would do the job.

Heinrich Schliemann wanted to solve "historical questions" and was not really interested in the material culture of a specific civilization.