Peculiarities of Exhibiting Hot Manufacturing Miniatures in Museums

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the creation of scientifically grounded miniatures of hot handicrafts and their role in historical and natural museum expositions. As a basis for creating miniatures, developed principles are used.While staying in museum, exposition and visitor have a kind of communication. Culturological text encoded in the revealed monument of ancient culture remains incomprehensible for a visitor and a tourist without recoding it. To cope with this situation, it is necessary to carry out a series of activities that result in the reproduction, museumization of the monument or its miniature creation. As a result, culturological text and audience engage in a dialogue.Foremost, museum communication depends on the attractiveness of the exhibit itself. Naturally, scansen has the highest attraction. However, not all monuments of ancient culture and archeology can by moved to scansens. Not all excavated sights are preserved so that they can be restored in scansens. For this purpose, miniatures are used.Creation of miniatures of archaeological sites for museum exhibitions until now largely remains a matter for the museum.Only the most significant archaeological monuments should be objects for miniature creating. For miniatures, places of outstanding battles, certain objects, associated with manufacturing processes, such as pottery kilns, bugles, blast furnaces, etc. could be used.The monuments should be either fully-investigated or majorly-investigated. Additionally, separate objects on the monuments can be also objects of miniature creation (building, kiln, metallurgic furnace, bugle).Choosing scale of miniature will depend on the capabilities of the museum itself, the area that can be allocated to the miniature.The topographic map of the miniature should serve as a landscape base.The scientific basis of the miniature is the result of archaeological research.The basis of individual objects location on the miniature is the general layout for monument excavation.Using these principles will help to create miniatures of hot handicraft production. Pottery is the oldest known hot handicraft. It has quickly spread throughout Eurasia. To illustrate the first primitive methods of burning out, improvised furnace could be used.They are the so-called ash collectors of white culture. They are round structures outwardly similar to burial mounds. Burning out was carried out on a large fire covered with the turf to maintain constant temperature. The second type of kilns is the so-called single-stage pottery kilns. The third type is multistage kilns. Anothertype of kilns is a transitional variant, recently investigated by Ukrainian archaeologists. The floor of the burning chamber is created of potter’s wheels, which, together with the dishes, are placed on the airways.Another hot handicraft was metal industry. The first metallurgical tools consisted of two crucibles and four nozzles. The crucible with a charge was covered with a second crucible and was placed on a pile of charcoal. Then the coal was burned down and four metallurgists with nozzles came to the crucible with long wooden tubes blowing. Afterwards, the lungs of metallurgists were replaced by miches.During the late bronze period, the metal melting was performed in round kilns, dipped into two thirds below ground. At the tangent line, nozzles were placed. The metal melting was performed in melting pots. The abovementioned kiln types were used in other industries as well. For example, for lime burning in glass and other industries.Similar miniatures will be a major addition to the material evidence of hot handicrafts both for designated museums (for example, metallurgy or pottery museums), as well for general, historical and local natural museums.Article received 22.03.2018