Archaeological Museum Research Articles

The Communication Challenge in Archaeological Museums in Puglia: Insights into the Contribution of Social Media and ICTs to Small-Scale Institutions

Archaeological museums play a vital role in regions with ancient roots, holding a millennial image as the cradle of civilization. In the South of Italy (former “Magna Graecia”) and particularly in Puglia—a melting pot of cultures where ancient Messapian, Byzantine, Roman, and Greek civilizations followed one another in ages, bequeathing a wealth of testimonies—institutions are disseminated across the region, and almost every small municipality has its own archaeological museum hosting a wealth of valuable objects and remains. The gradual structural changes in the role of museums over the last decades and the recent COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, with the sudden closing and subsequent re-opening of facilities, forced institutions to re-think and re-develop their communication practices everywhere. Museums across the world have since been conceiving original and effective strategies based on social media and ICTs. After framing the problem background, the article introduces an overview of good practice and virtuous examples in the museum field and a questionnaire-based focus survey on a sample of archaeological museums in Puglia in order to assess the status of local communication strategies’ implementation against the potential of modern technologies. The survey results allowed identifying a peculiar mix of “emergency” and evolutional approaches in the sample analyzed, main concerns and barriers to the adoption of digital strategies, but also specific strategic drivers for innovation in the very nature of local small institutions. The study’s outcomes offer a potential contribution to the alignment of institutions to current standards through informed policies that can be usefully shared in other similar contexts across Europe.

RESEARCH ON THE DIGITAL EXHIBITION OF CULTURAL RELICS FOR CROSS-CULTURE COMMUNICATION: CASE STUDY ON CHINA-GREECE COOPERATION ON TERRACOTTA WARRIORS

Abstract. With epidemics blocking offline interactions, it is difficult to organise events such as tours of major heritage sites and outbound exhibitions of cultural relics, and new paths need to be expanded for the presentation of cultural heritage and intercultural education efforts. With the booming development of digital technology, the integration of online virtual presentation and interactive technology and the innovative design of 3D scenes provide new solutions for the intercultural communication of these precious and immovable cultural relics (e.g. archaeological sites), etc. This project is based on the Sino-Greek cooperation around the online presentation of heritage items such as the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of China and the precious collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Greece, in order to present and On the basis of communicating the value of heritage and the connection between Chinese and Greek civilisations, the project explores the development of a virtual space that integrates the Terracotta Warriors and Horses pits, the interactive virtual display of cultural relics, and the display of the achievements of scientific and technological conservation of cultural relics, so as to realise the cross-cultural exchange between China and Greece and fulfil the educational function of heritage.

Adam Kirkor: the Discovery and First Research of Trypillia Sites in the Ukrainian Dnister Region

It is well known that the Trypillia culture in Ukraine was singled out by Vincenc Chvojka (Vikentii Khvoika — in Ukrainian) based on his research in the Dnipro region at the end of the 19th century. However, a little earlier, the same sites were studied in Eastern Galicia, Dnister region, by Polish researchers: Adam Kirkor, Izydor Kopernicki, Władysław Przybysławski, and Gotfryd Ossowski. The territory, where Trypillian settlements were discovered, at that time, belonged to two empires — Russian and Austro-Hungarian, so the culture had different names in the Dnipro region and the Dnister region. In Galicia, they became known under the name of the Painted Pottery culture, whereas the sites in the Dnipro valley were called the Trypillia culture by V. Chvojka. Nowadays it is a cultural and historical community of Cucuteni-Trypillia culture. The first reports of the Trypillian antiquities discovery are dated to the 1820s, but full-fledged research had began in 1876 by the Krakow archaeologist Adam Kirkor. For five seasons (1876—1878, 1881, 1882), the researcher had been studying rocky and cave sites of the Dnister region; he collected fossils and fossil remains of animals. Adam had excavated the burials of the Globular Amphora culture and initiated the excavations of the barrows of the Early Scythian period in the Middle Dnister region. During the exploration, he examined several Trypillian settlements (Vasylkivtsi, Verkhniakivtsi, Horodnytsia, Zhabyntsi, Kozachchyna, Lychkivtsi, Lanivtsi, Sukhostav, Yabluniv) and the Verteba cave near Bilche-Zolote village. The researcher managed to record the positioning of the Trypillian dwellings’ remains in circles and straight lines. A. Kirkor interpreted these settlements as a burnt Pagan burial ground. The first Trypillia sites discovered in the Dnister region were associated with the periphery of ancient civilisation and the squares were interpreted as burnt cemeteries, which was a tribute to the scientific trends of that time. Such opinions are not surprising and are explained by the fact that the researchers encountered the Trypillian antiquities for the first time, and the ideas about their dating and purpose were quite conventional. The scholar had taken the materials he excavated during the trips, to Krakow. Today, these finds are kept in the Archaeological Museum of Krakow.

Physical Disabilities in Greco Roman Egypt and Measuring the Role of Archaeological Museums in The Innovation of Smart Technology to Serve the Physically Handicapped Tourists: Applying on Museums in Alexandria, Cairo

Physical Disabilities in Greco Roman Egypt and Measuring the Role of Archaeological Museums in The Innovation of Smart Technology to Serve the Physically Handicapped Tourists: Applying on Museums in Alexandria, Cairo

EXAMINING THE MUSLIM NUMISMATIC EVIDENCE IN SRI LANKA TO COMPREHEND THE MUSLIM HERITAGE

Numerous different Islamic coins have been found in Lanka. Some of them, meanwhile, are hardly notable for the island's economic history. Although they may have been incorrectly identified as coins, they are either not coins at all or have only ever been discovered in commercial settings. Although several Islamic coins have been discovered in Sri Lanka, it is still unknown if these coins originated there, in India, or in other Muslim world. We are only on solid ground when dealing with Islamic money. The aim of this research is to develop a catalogue of coins with origins that have never before been seen in Sri Lanka and to examine their significance in light of the island's political and economic history. The complicated religious, political, and economic ties that Sri Lanka had with the Muslim world for many centuries are what have shaped the island nation's history. As a consequence of these ties, several Islamic coins have been discovered. The under discussion is came from multiple sites excavated by different mission and now on display at three different museums i.e. National Museum Colombo, Archaeological Museum Anuradhapura, Gall Maritime Museums of Sri Lanka and Jaffna Museum were analysis. Keywords: Coins, Muslim in Sri Lanka, Heritage, Trade.

Mineralogical and petrographic characterization of the Cerrillo Blanco Iberian sculptures

The archaeological heritage at Cerrillo Blanco (Porcuna, Spain) is made up of 27 sculptural ensembles and hundreds of fragments dated between the seventh and second centuries BC. They represent a fundamental milestone in Iberian art and culture. Despite their relevance, no scientific studies have been carried out to date in order to fully understand the materials, intentions and techniques that led to their creation. This is a study carried out on original pieces from the Archaeological Museum of Jaén using stereoscopic optical microscopy (SOM), polarised optical microscopy (POM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray analysis (FESEM-EDX) and spectrophotometry (SF). The results obtained provide new information on the material composition of this important legacy of the Iberian civilization as well as its main alteration factors.

Damage, dirt and change over time: documenting conditions at the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

How does one ethically care for a global collection shaped and maintained within a colonial context? How do we address institutional responsibilities in a way that is transparent, rigorous and reparative? This article discusses on-going conservation research at the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology as part of a 5-year storage relocation project. Moving beyond key vocabularies and abstract critique, this work examines the potential role of conservation in documenting and interpreting evidence for damage, displacement and erasure related to methods of colonial knowledge production and historic museum practice. The work includes a consideration of the language used to distinguish modifications resulting from museum practice such as the application of pesticides; monitoring change over time; the expectation of object longevity; and the potential consequences of disrupted traditions of maintenance and knowledge exchange. The article concludes by reflecting on the ways in which technical vocabularies, documentation and decision-making processes can shape and even improve the ways in which these collections are studied, valued and utilised by a diversity of stakeholders.

Vestimenta drawing in use by the Romans

The study of the Pompeii clothes, representative of the wider Roman culture, is carried out starting from the graphic analysis of the classical iconography of the MANN (National Archaeological Museum of Naples) in comparison with historiographical sources, by means of the representation of the main patterns of women's clothing in use by the Romans and their respective decorative and chromatic motifs, also in relation to the fibres of which the fabrics were made. This study, which also makes use of data obtained from the photogrammetric survey of a selected number of textile finds belonging to the "MANN Textile Collection", provides an unpublished archive of the main clothing patterns, codifying in technical drawings (paper patterns) the unconventional rules that the ancient Romans at that period used to make clothing on the basis of knowledge, practical experience and customs (dressing rituals) specific to the culture of the time. The flat development of each clothing patterns is entrusted to the geometric accuracy of the paper pattern, is proportionate to the anthropometric measurements of the woman of the Roman age (female normotype) and represented to scale.

Openness, Innovation, and Sustainability in Museum Organizations

Over the last few decades, social, economic, and technological changes have gradually contributed to modifying the core concept of museum organizations, towards their active involvement in the process of social innovation and territory growth, in accordance with the instances of sustainability. This study investigates how strategic innovation, based on the implementation of an open and sustainable museum model, as a driver of social and civic innovation, can enhance the development of the reference community. To this end, after analyzing the concept of sustainability-oriented innovation in the perspective of openness and shared value, the research investigates the role of sustainability and its specific declinations in museum management, focusing the attention on the experience of the Italian museums in the light of a substantial revision of organization due to a reform in 2014. The theoretical framework is then applied to a case study, the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto “MArTA”, in order to verify the nature and impacts of changes in the museums that take a sustainability-oriented path through strategic and technological innovation. The study provides evidence of the joint and interdependent role of openness, innovation, and sustainability as key drivers in the museums with particular reference to practices adopted to encourage stakeholders’ engagement and to contribute to social, economic, and cultural development.

Open access violence: Legacies of white supremacist data making at the Penn Museum, from the Morton Cranial Collection to the MOVE remains

AbstractThis article examines how openly sharing data online can continue the dehumanizing work of 19th century “collectors” who stole the bodies of colonized peoples. It addresses the ongoing controversies at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (“Penn Museum“), regarding the interlinked weaponization of over one thousand crania used by racial scientist Samuel George Morton, and the remains of two Black children murdered by the police in the 1985 MOVE bombing, and asks, how can descendant communities regain their kin and take control of the data the museum has extracted from them? And how can scholars and other heritage workers within colonial institutions support them?

Analysis of Digitized 3D Models Published by Archaeological Museums

Nowadays, many museums publish virtual versions of the artifacts they keep in their collections in different 3D model viewers available on the Internet. However, despite the wide experience that some of them have in this field, it is still possible to find many virtual models that do not meet the desirable requirements for their publication on the Internet, especially regarding the optimization of the mesh and color textures needed for greater efficiency in the visualization and downloading of 3D objects. In this study, a sample of virtual models of objects belonging to multiple archaeological museums from different countries is analyzed. We considered multiple characteristics of the models, such as the number of polygons that compose them, the quality of the meshes, filter effects applied during post-processing, etc. The results of this research indicate that it is still necessary to make a greater effort to improve the training and digital skills of the professionals in charge of the digitization process in this area of cultural heritage.

Aphidna’s Prehistoric Tumulus in North Attica from around 2000 BC. A Comprehensive Re-assessment of Sam Wide’s 1894 Excavation

Abstract The 13 graves excavated in 1894 by Sam Wide at Aphidna only attracted sporadic attention during the first decades, even though he exposed unusually rich burials. However, over the last 20 years, there has been increased interest, but still with most focus on only one grave, Pithos Grave III. This article combines information from several sources to get a more comprehensive picture, including a thorough re-read of Wide’s original publication in German, an examination of his preserved correspondence and notes, also with a newly discovered original photo taken during the excavation. In addition, recent colour photos of the finds kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens are provided. This approach may, in a sense, be termed ‘archaeology in reverse’. Wide was a pioneer in Greek prehistoric studies and the first to identify a then-unknown phase between the Early and the Middle Bronze Age, based on the Aphidna finds. His detailed descriptions of the excavation, including the large bowls placed outside the pithos graves, also contribute to reconstructing burial rites. After 130 years, with many new contemporary sites now available, new insights into regional perspectives can be gained.

Bolivian “Music of the Wind” in guitar works: aspects of artistic implementation

The relevance of the article is to consider Bolivian guitar music as an important component of the modern South American repertoire. On the example of the works of famous composers and performers Alfredo Domínguez, Fernando Arduz, and Jilberto Rojas, connections with the folklore traditions of the country, the poetics of Bolivian "wind music", and its timbre specificity have been revealed.
 Main objective of the study is to reveal aspects of the artistic embodiment of Bolivian «music of the wind» in academic guitar work. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the introduction of materials about Bolivian musical culture and guitar creativity into domestic musicological circulation.
 The methodology includes methods of historical, comparative, phenomenological, structural and functional analysis to study: genre and style elements of Bolivian folk music of Indian and Creole origin in academic guitar work; organology of traditional instruments and timbre characteristics of sound; phenomena of imitation of the voices of nature, the timbres of Bolivian wind, percussion, and string-plucked instruments by modern guitar means of sound production; genealogy of rhythmic structures and their manifestations in the researched works; decorative and visual ritual attribution; correlation of associative-figurative series with timbre connotations, specific genres and intonation and chord patterns; anthropological connections of the sound space of «music of the wind» with the surrounding natural and landscape environment and the state of metaphysical dialogue of man with the surrounding world.
 Results and conclusions. In the analyzed compositions («Feria», «Por la Quebrada» by A. Dominguez, «Despedida de Los Chunchos» by F. Arduz, «Guadalquivir» by J. Rojas) various resources of performing guitar technique used to imitate the voices of nature, authentic timbres of ancient Bolivian aerophones quena, erke, сaña, membranophones caja, local chordophones charango, relevant in modern conditions of collective ritual music-making practice. Sound and image connotations are correlated with the voices of Bolivian folk instruments, ritual decorations, plasticity of dance movements, visualization of natural landscapes and attribution of totemic cultures. In the process of defining genre components, the contrasts of juxtapositions were demonstrated: takirari, tonada and Andean huayño, ceremonial Indian ceremonies and sardana dance of Iberian origin, metric fluctuations of Creole and Indian rhythms, melodic movements of pentatonic nature with melismatic ornaments of the Andean type. Linguistic and genre characteristics of guitar works were investigated taking into account the anthropological experience of Bolivian scientists studying their musical and ceremonial culture, which in particular determined the search for the historical roots of musical phenomena among the exhibits of archaeological museums, exhibits of musical instruments, and artifacts of the life of indigenous peoples.

Color and Light: A Hellenistic Terracotta Figurine of a Maenad from Myrina

During the Hellenistic period and under the growing influence of the art of painting, the polychromy of Greek terracotta figurines focused not only on an elaborate rendering of color, but also on the interplay of light and shadow. Some of the best-preserved examples clearly show the subtlety of such pictorial effects. Among them is a statuette of a standing Maenad, held in the collections of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (inv. 5000). Dating back to 150–100 BCE, it is a high-quality testament to the sculptural, as well as pictorial, coroplastic production in the workshops of Myrina (Eolide, Turkey). Combining multi-scale examination, multi-spectral imaging and non-invasive spectroscopic investigations (XRF, FTIR, FORS), a scientific study of the artefact was carried out within the framework of the Pilina project, a collaborative research program between the Louvre, the C2RMF, the National Archaeological Museum and the French School in Athens. This article presents the main results of the study by discussing the color scheme, identification of some pigments and colorants (clays of the kaolinite group, ochres, cinnabar, Egyptian blue, an anthraquinone of plant origin, likely madder, gold leaf), and painting techniques aiming at achieving chiaroscuro effects.

Mold growth under near-saturated preservation environment of unearthed relics within archaeological museums

Mold is an important deterioration risk to in situ preserved relics since they require a high relative humidity (RH) preservation environment to maintain their original state as before unearthed. However, few studies have been conducted to characterize mold growth on the surface of inorganic unearthed sites under saturated RH conditions. In this study, four groups of soil samples with different salt content were placed in different RH environments to assess mold growth under near-saturated conditions based on previously completed simulations of unearthed sites in an exhibition hall and an experimental platform for the environmental control system to preserve cultural relics. The very high RH (> 99%) of the near-saturated environment had a higher inhibitory effect on mold growth compared with the RH of 80–90%, which is favorable for mold growth. This inhibitory effect was not remarkably different from that of a dry environment. As salt content is proportional to mold growth on the surface of unearthed sites, a reduction in the former significantly inhibited the latter. This study provides basic knowledge about the characteristics of mold growth for unearthed sites in a near-saturated environment and proposes novel ideas for its prevention.

From Collection or Archaeological Finds? A Non-Destructive Analytical Approach to Distinguish between Two Sets of Bronze Coins of the Roman Empire.

This study stems from the need for numismatics to establish whether there may be relationships between a group of 103 bronze coins from the Roman era found in archaeological excavations on the Cesén Mountain (Treviso, Italy) and a group of 117 coins kept at the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology in Montebelluna (Treviso, Italy). The chemists were delivered six coins with neither pre-agreements nor further information on the origin of the coins. Therefore, the request was to hypothetically assign the coins to the two groups on the basis of similarities and differences in their surface composition. Only non-destructive analytical techniques were allowed to be used to characterize the surface of the six coins taken blindly from the two sets. The elemental analysis of each coins' surface was carried out by µ-XRF. To better observe the morphology of the coins' surfaces, SEM-EDS was used. Compounds covering the coins coming from both corrosion processes (patinas) and the deposition of soil encrustations were also analyzed by means of the FTIR-ATR technique. The molecular analysis confirmed the presence of silico-aluminate minerals on some coins, unequivocally indicating a provenance from clayey soil. Some soil samples, collected from the archaeological site of interest, were analyzed to verify whether the encrusted layer on coins could contain chemical components compatible with them. This result, together with the chemical and morphological investigations, led us to subdivide the six target coins into two groups. The first group is made up of two coins coming from the set of coins from excavation (found in the subsoil) and from the set from open air finds (coins found in the top layer of the soil). The second group is made up of four coins that are devoid of characteristics corresponding to exposure to soil contact for long periods of time and, moreover, their surface compounds could suggest a different provenance. The analytical results of this study made it possible to correctly assign all six coins to the two groups of finds and support numismatics, which was unconvinced in considering all coins to come from the same finding site only on the basis of archaeological documentations.

Re:]Entanglements: Colonial Collections in Decolonial Times curated by Paul Basu

Re:]Entanglements: Colonial Collections in Decolonial Times curated by Paul Basu

Superior vena cava syndrome and gynecomastia in antiquity: Paleodermatologic considerations on aging in the past.

We explore the antiquity of two well-known conditions often associated with advancing age, namely superior vena cava syndrome and gynecomastia, through the veristic sculptural representation dating back to the classical age. The statue of the Old Fisherman from the "Paolo Orsi" Regional Archaeological Museum of Syracuse, Italy, thanks to the extremely accurate rendering of the appearance of the cutaneous tissues, makes it possible to open a window to the antiquity and morphologic presentation of pathologic phenomena that would be difficult to infer solely from the human skeleton remains. The analysis of this statue also offers an opportunity to highlight the capacity of Hellenistic art in portraying human misery and illness.

Esther Fernández. To Embody the Marvelous: The Making of Illusions in Early Modern Spain

Esther Fernández. <i>To Embody the Marvelous: The Making of Illusions in Early Modern Spain</i>

Ultra-Short Pulse Laser Cleaning of Contaminated Pleistocene Bone: A Comprehensive Study on the Influence of Pulse Duration and Wavelength

The impact of wavelength and pulse duration in laser cleaning of hard blackish contaminants crust from archaeologically significant Pleistocene bone is investigated in this research. The objective is to determine the practical cleaning procedures and identify adequate laser parameters for cleaning archaeological bone from Sima de los Huesos (Spain) based on conservation and restoration perspectives. Bone surface cleaning was performed utilizing two Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers: sub-nanosecond pulsed lasers with emission wavelengths at 355 nm and 1064 nm, respectively, and a Yb:KGW femtosecond pulsed laser with an emission wavelength in the third harmonic at 343 nm. In all experiments, the laser beam scanning mode was applied to measure cleaning efficiency in removing contaminants and degradation products while assessing the underlying substrate surface damage. Several properties, including wavelength-dependent absorption, pulse repetition rate, and thermal properties of the material, are analyzed when evaluating the ability of these lasers to boost the cleaning efficiency of the deteriorated bone surface. Bone surface morphology and composition were studied and compared before and after laser irradiation, using Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM-EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) characterization methods. The results indicate that 238-femtosecond UV laser irradiation with 2.37 TWcm−2 is significantly safer and more efficient toward surface contaminant desorption than sub-nanosecond laser irradiation. The results herein presented suggest that these types of fs lasers may be considered for realistic laser conservation of valuable historic and archaeological museum artifacts.