Archaeological Museum Research Articles

SEA BROUGHT ONTO LAND: SEASCAPE IMAGERY IN THE CYCLADIC POTTERY FROM PHYLAKOPI (MELOS) IN THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, ATHENS

This study examines seascape depictions on pottery, including seafaring and sea creature scenes, from the 1896–9 excavations at Phylakopi on Melos, held in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. This analysis demonstrates that seascape scenes varied in character through time and were typically associated with vessel shapes connected to the pouring of liquids between Early Cycladic (EC) III and Middle Cycladic late and were later focused on basins. A focus on seafaring is evident in EC III, while later the iconographic focus on the sea concentrates on sea creatures. An iconographic interest in the sea, alongside that of birds and floral depictions, is suggestive of an interest in living forms that inhabit different places to humans (i.e., non-domestic) with different corporeality to humans. This research contributes further to the growing debate on human–animal/plant relationships and ontologies in the Aegean Bronze Age.

On some Features of Funerary Assemblage of the Egyptian Priestess Nesmut

The subject of this paper is the analysis of funerary assemblage of Nesmut, the Egyptian priestess of the 21st Dynasty (her titles are “Mistress of the House, Chantress of Amun, king of the gods”). The burial of Nesmut was discovered in 1891 in the so-called “Second Cache” at Deir al-Bahri, also known as Bāb el-Gusūs (set no. A.48). Inventory that was discovered on the mummy: leather mummy braces, three “napkins”, linen gloves, shale heart scarab, and wax images of the sons of Horus. Inventory that was found near or inside of the coffin: two shabti-boxes, shabtis. Nesmut’s mummy cover is located in the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo (Cairo CG 6007). Her coffin is currently stored in the Odesa Archaeological Museum (OAM) of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (inv. no. 71695). It was part of the so-called Lot VI presented to Russian Empire by Egyptian government in 1893. In 1895, the coffin of Nesmut was sent from Odesa to the Archaeological Museum of St. Volodymyr Kyiv University. In 1959 the coffin of Nesmut was among other objects that were transferred from the State Republican Historical Museum in Kyiv to the OAM. The lid of the coffin with inv. no. OAM 71695 differs in design style from the trunk and has an earlier dating. Structurally, the lid has retained traces of technological processing and fitting the trunk of the later coffin of its namesake. Accordingly, there were two Nesmuts, whose funerary objects were discovered in Bāb el-Gusūs. The burial of Nesmut (II) corresponds to the set no. A.48 by Daressy and it is linked with the coffin trunk no. OAM 71695. Separate objects from Nesmut’s (I) grave goods were adapted for later burials: the lid of her inner coffin was used for the Odesa coffin of Nesmut (II), and the lid of the outer coffin might have been adapted for an anonymous burial from Bāb el-Gusūs set no. A.54 (Swiss lot IX, Neuchâtel, Musée d’Ethnographie, inv. no. Eg. 184) on which the name “Nesmut” preserved in one segment of the lid. The burial of Nesmut was also equipped with two different types of shabtis. It is possible that like the lid of the coffin, part of the shabtis was “usurped” by Nesmut (II) and previously belonged to the burial of her namesake and probably relative, Nesmut (I). It is quite probable, that they were reused and adopted for the burial of new owner together with the shabti-box, since the two of them were found in the set no. A.48. This may prove that during the 21st Dynasty, not only large objects, but also small items of grave goods could be reused.

'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National Museums

This article evaluates how nationalist narratives affect the display of Roman artefacts in national museums. The unique nature of national museums as 'cultural constitutions' and arbiters of the 'Authorised Heritage Discourse' is discussed. This article builds upon previous work by demonstrating how nationalist influence affects the display of Roman artefacts, specifically through the use of two case studies: the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Museum displays are assessed for indications of nationalist influence through consideration of the use of space and collection composition as well as textual analysis of gallery signage and artefact descriptions. The two museums' divergent approaches to national narrative are then compared.

A Group of Metal Artifacts from Konya Archaeology Museum

Bu makale ile Konya Arkeoloji Müzesi koleksiyonunda bulunan 3 kolcuklu balta, 9 yassı balta/keski ve 2 keskiden oluşan toplam 15 adet maden eser yayınlanmaktadır. Eserler üç farklı gruptan oluşmaktadır. Kolcuklu baltalar, gövdelerinin her iki kısmında kolcuk adlı çıkıntıları olan balta biçimidir. Yassı gövdeli, dar ense kısmından teber kısmına doğru genişleyen eserler yassı balta/keski olarak adlandırılmaktadır. Uzun/kısa boyutlu, dörtgen/kare kesitli gövdeli, ağızları dövülerek düzleştirilmiş eserler keski grubunu oluşturmaktadır. Eserler, 2010 ve 2015 yıllarında İbrahim Bağcı tarafından müzeye getirilmiştir. Envanter kayıtlarında eserlerin buluntu yerleri hakkında belirgin bir bilgi mevcut değildir. Kazı buluntusu olarak ele geçmiş ve yayını yapılmış benzer balta tipleri dikkate alınarak analoji yöntemi ile eserlerin tarihlendirilmeleri yapılmıştır. Çalışmamızda eserlerin ait oldukları balta ve keski tipleri ile kullanım alanları hakkında bilgiler verilmiştir. Yayımladığımız eserlerin durumu ve benzerlerinin işlevlerini dikkate alarak özel amaçlar (ritüeller, törenler vs.), taş, maden ve ahşap işlerinde kullanılmış aletler oldukları söylenebilir. Yayını gerçekleştirilen maden eserler, Orta Tunç Çağı ve Geç Tunç Çağı’na tarihlendirilmiştir. Çalışma konusunu oluşturan kolcuklu, yassı balta/keski ve keskilerin Orta ve Kuzey Anadolu’da ele geçen eserler ile benzer özelliklere sahip olduğu görülmüştür. 1, 5, 13 ve 14 katalog numaralı eserlerin tek parça kalıpta üretilmesi yerel işçilik özelliği olarak değerlendirilebilir. Bu çalışma ile 15 parça eseri inceleyip yayınını gerçekleştirerek, maden eserler konusunda bilimsel literatüre katkı sağlamak amaçlanmıştır.

Archaeological Heritage Management and Science on War and Terror Sites in Brandenburg, Germany

The Brandenburg State Archaeology Museum has been conserving and analysing relics of war and terror for 25 years, and as a result of this work archaeology is now an integral part of Nazi camp research (Kersting et al. 2016a; Theune 2018). Many camp sites have been investigated, including concentration camps and their subcamps, forced labour camps, and prisoner-of-war camps (Kersting 2020; 2022). While most objects of an industrial culture of the 20th century can be quickly assigned a function, functions do change. Such a shift is a characteristic of Nazi camp finds and reflects their context of bondage and deprivation. The identification of the functions of material remains enables their association with different spheres of life in the camp, so that both perpetrator and victim groups are documented archaeologically. Moreover, these finds serve as tangible evidence to refute any relativisation of the crimes.

Moving On: Rethinking Practice and Transforming Data at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge

Scholarly attention is increasingly focusing on museum catalogues: their histories, challenges and, as this paper explores, their potential. Many databases contain outdated information and offensive language, the legacy of colonial-era knowledge production and digitization processes that translated catalogue cards into database entries. Much has been written about the potential of catalogues to act as sites of contact and collaboration, as well as how institutions can and should mitigate harm stemming from discriminatory language within their catalogues. Yet as museum practitioners are acutely aware, the extensive work required to enact change throughout a database is rarely perceived as exciting enough to garner dedicated project funding. This paper uses the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Stores Move Project (2020–2024) as a case study to illustrate how museums can, and realistically must, integrate critical documentation work into larger projects in order to achieve these objectives. The authors first engage with MAA’s own history of collecting and cataloguing, before detailing how collections staff have incorporated documentation priorities (re-cataloguing, historicizing data, and addressing bias) into the larger Project. They conclude with the hope that by making this work more visible and demonstrating its value, such projects might attract dedicated funding in the future.

Update and synthesis of the available archaeological and geochronological data for the Lower Paleolithic site of Loreto at Venosa (Basilicata, Italy)

Abstract In the Basilicata region, located in southern Italy and known for hosting among the first occurrences of the Acheulean culture in southwestern Europe, the Lower Paleolithic site of Loreto at Venosa is located less than a kilometer from the emblematic site of Notarchirico and less than 25 km from Cimitero di Atella. The Loreto site has not been studied as thoroughly as the two other sites and, although geological investigations have been carried out in the Venosa basin, no direct numerical dating has ever been published for the three archaeological levels brought to light during the excavation campaigns. We present a multi-method geochronological approach combining ESR/U-series, ESR, and 40Ar/39Ar permitting to refine the age of the most ancient archaeological level (A) of the Loreto site. These data allow us to propose an MIS 13 age for this level, in accordance with previous hypotheses based on geological and paleontological data. We also propose a technical review of the lithic tools preserved in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Venosa to integrate Loreto in the evolution scheme of the European Acheulean techno-complex emergence and diffusion.

Area G and the Digging of Kom Aushim

Abstract An analysis of the early history of digging at Kom Aushim and the Museum archaeology of Karanis papyri purchased on the Egyptian antiquities market is combined with archaeological data from the University of Michigan’s excavations to locate purchased papyri in the archaeological record.

The Birth of Athena: A Teratological Approach

The birth of Athena, the Patron Deity of Athens, praised for her wisdom and craft skills, as an adult from Zeus’ head after a severe headache, is an abnormal and biologically impossible event that challenges traditional gender roles. This narrative takes to the extreme the impossibility of Nature to change the essentially feminine function of giving birth and the worldview previously embodied by the great Goddess or great Mother, the dominant figure during the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages. There have been significant historical shifts in societal values and power dynamics since the Bronze Age. The onset of agriculture, animal domestication, and the discovery of metals allowed the manufacture of more powerful and effective weapons that led to the flourishing of male hegemony and patriarchy, establishing the prevalence of masculine over feminine values. This essay highlights the role of Nature Sciences and Medicine in understanding mythological creatures and narratives. Approaching the natural phenomena, the aforementioned disciplines can sometimes shed light on ancient narratives, since records of congenital malformations, which came down to us in worldwide artworks, often present images similar to those from the shelves of Anatomical Museums and Pathological Anatomy books. This essay discusses this possible relationship in the case of Athena’s birth, presenting a olivine stone head of Zeus from the Archaeological Museum, D. Diogo de Sousa in Braga (Portugal), which presents the crack from which Athena was born.

The Identity of Socio-Cultural Dynamics in Sangiran Batik

The purpose of this article is to examine one type of batik that developed around the Sangiran Museum Building, Sragen Region, Central Java Province. The method used is a field study method by means of observation, interviews, and document analysis. Sangiran has a museum that stores ancient objects from the past, including ancient human remains. Sangiran is often referred to as The Land of Java Man. This condition also affects the background of batik forms in Sangiran and its surroundings. The archaeological museum and ancient human remains have become a source of inspiration for the creation of batik. Batik in Sangiran is often referred to as Sukawati batik. Sukawati is the name of Sragen region before 18th century in the time of Pangeran Mangkubumi. The influence of ancient human remains and ancient objects appears in batik motifs such as batik motifs of human evolution, batik motifs of carved ivory because there are elephant tusks from ancient times were found in Sangiran. There are also batik motifs derived from the myths of the local community, namely the motif of Dewi Sri or the Goddess of fertility. Batik has become the hallmark of the Sragen region and gave rise to the dynamics of batik life such as batik creation competitions, batik uniforms, and so on.

Arab-Byzantine and Umayyad coins from Marea/Philoxenite: preliminary observations

Archaeological research at Marea/Philoxenite, conducted by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw in collaboration with the Archaeological Museum in Kraków since 2000, has focused mainly on the site of the Great Basilica — one of the largest Christian basilicas of Egypt — and some other parts of the city. Research to date has shown that the city reached its peak development during the Byzantine period. It was one of the most important centers along the route leading from Alexandria to the sanctuary of Saint Menas at Abu Mina. To date, the site has yielded more than 8000 coins, the majority of them Late Roman minimi. Among the finds are a small group of Arab-Byzantine coins struck after the Arab conquest of Egypt in AD 640, as well as Umayyad coins introduced after the monetary reform of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān in AD 696/7. This article presents preliminary observations on the Arab-Byzantine and Umayyad coins discovered thus far in the course of fieldwork at Marea/Philoxenite.

Археологический музей и визуальная культура: вызов или возможности

The quantitative and qualitative leap in the production and perception of visual information prompts many researchers to describe modern culture as visual. The emergence of the technical ability to create, copy and distribute visual images has led to important sociocultural changes. That has affected such a realm of the visual as the archaeological museum. It has lost its monopoly on the presentation of historical artifacts and has been forced to compete with the mass media for the viewers. On the other hand, it has significantly expanded the technical tools for studying and exhibiting its collections. At the same time, there are concerns that the museum may lose its uniqueness under the pressure of visual culture and drown in a sea of attractions. The use of visual technologies at the exposition could not contribute to the actualization of the heritage, but, on the contrary, lead to its devaluation. This article is an attempt to analyze the correlation between the challenges that visual culture poses to the archaeological museum and the opportunities that it provides.

Consultation, Collaboration, and Consent: Decolonizing and Indigenizing Archival Research

Abstract: Archival research that involves Indigenous-related collections should center and prioritize Indigenous interests and goals regarding the materials. Professionals within these spaces are responsible for taking actions to build safe connections between collections and the communities they represent. Archival materials are often overlooked as relationship-building opportunities. This paper explores collaborative efforts between the Indiana University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Native partners whose histories are found in collections at the institution, as well as how policies and procedures are changing to be a more inclusive space. Though museums are often the focus of NAGPRA-related conversations, we also emphasize that archives may contain NAGPRA-eligible materials and discuss a few of those instances. Repatriation, whether or digital or physical, remains a valid strategy for returning archival materials but like all consultation, relies on the circumstance. Ultimately, we argue that professionals should return control of appropriate Indigenous materials to their source communities which takes steps towards indigenizing and decolonizing archival research. (158 count)

Сосуды с эпиграфическими и псевдо­эпиграфическими надписями с территории Царевского городища

Research objectives: To study 14th century vessels with epigraphic and pseudo-epigraphic inscriptions. Research materials: Ceramic vessels kept in the Archaeological Museum of Kazan Federal University. Results and novelty of the research: In the 1960s, large-scale archaeological work was carried out on the archaeological sit of Tsarevskoye settlement by the Volga Archaeological Expedition led by G.A. Fedorov-Davydov. A group from Kazan State University (led by I.S. Weiner) also took part in the the expedition. As a result, a large layer of material sources was obtained within which, the most massive example of material was ceramics. To date, archeological objects discovered during the excavations of the Tsarevskoye settlement in 1961–1968 are in the funds of the Archaeological Museum of the Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University. In addition to the artistic merits of the ceramics of the Golden Horde era, these items have a special scientific source-study significance since, being obtained as a result of field research, they are stratified and provided with an archaeological context. As part of the study, five stonepaste-based glazed vessels, one Central Asian stamped jug, and one die for the manufacture of stamped dishes were considered as the main research subjects. Vessels with epigraphic inscriptions meet analogies among the materials of the Lower Volga and Central Asian sites. Thus, the article introduces new data obtained as a result of epigraphic, linguistic, and comparative analyses of the collection originating from the territory of the eastern suburb of Tsarevskoye settlement of the 14th century.

First Russian scholars projects on musealization of archaeological heritage in Soviet Belarus

The purpose of the study is to analyze archival sources on the problem of museumification of the archaeological heritage of Belarus. In the late 1940s and 1960s Russian scientists N. N. Voronin, N. N. Gurina developed concepts and design proposals for the creation of archaeological museums in Grodno and Krasnoselsky settlement in Grodno region, but were not published. N. N. Voronin substantiated the creation of the “Museum of Monuments of Russian Grodno” (1947) on the territory of the Old Castle. He proposed measures for the preservation and presentation of churches (XII–XIV cent.), civil architecture, defensive structures (XII–XVII cent.). N. N. Gurina developed the project of the Museum of Neolithic Silica Mines (1972). The author of the article focuses on archaeologists and architects’ scientific approaches to museumification (complex, landscape, axiological, cultural), methods for adapting ruins to museum (conservation of excavation and objects, restoration to stabilize ruins, protection within pavilions), principles of museumification — preservation, authenticity, scientific. N. N. Gurina’s project distinguishes by the planning, zoning of the museum-reserve territory; it focuses on the harmonization of the landscape and design elements, measures to ensure security and protection, there are elements of improvement, tourist infrastructure. N. N. Voronin with the architect I. V. Trofimov tested the restoration measures associated with the excavation, determined the sources of funding and a new direction of museum activity was founded. The author concludes that the museumification of archeological sites, considered as a cultural project, includes a number of stages: archaeological identification of the monument, the historical and cultural valorization of all objects, the development of methods of conservation and restoration, the creation of architectural and art projects of the building, exposition.

A middle La Tène Period sword from the Museum of Durrës, Albania

The present paper examines a sword dated in the La Tène Period, currently exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Durrës, Albania. According to the scientific staff of the Museum the archaeological context of the sword has not been specified but the blade had been found in the necropolis of the city. The analysis of the sword is based on its typological features but also the historical, the archaeological and ethnological aspects of the region had been taken into consideration. The most significant feature of the blade is of course the bending. This feature led us to correlate the examined object with the Celts, who practiced this ritual of the intentional destruction “killing” a weapon. This is the first folded sword which had been found in the territory of the modern-day Albania.

THE STORY OF ONE BURIAL...

In brief, the article tells the story of the research on the famous Mesolithic grave in Janisławice – from its discovery in 1937 and the monographic publication of Maria Chmielewska in 1954; through the repeated analyses and verifying field studies of K. Cyrek in the years 1978–1995, and a number of expert analyses that involved modern technologies; lastly, to the exposition organised in the State Archaeological Museum (PMA) presenting, among others, the most recent findings about the assemblage from Janisławice. Many years of studies conducted by over ten researchers of various specialties verified the previous findings, confirming them for the most part. Janisławice can be interpreted as an isolated burial of a man about 30 years of age who most likely, hunting aside, was also obtaining chocolate flint in the older stage of the Atlantic period.

Total Quality Management in the Archeological Museums of Greece

A widely accepted method of measuring the quality of services is SERVQUAL, introduced by Parasuraman, Zeintham, and Berry in 1985. SERVQUAL measures the gap between the expectations and the perceptions of the customers about the efficiency of services based on five dimensions: (1) tangibles, (2) reliability, (3) responsiveness, (4) assurance, and (5) empathy. Subsequent studies have examined the effectiveness of this model in various fields, such as retail trade and tourism (Finn XXABSTRACT Lamb, 1991; Maher et al., 2011). Various critics of this tool state that there is greater focus on customer perceptions than on customer expectations, so that the gap between expected and actual service performance cannot be accurately determined (Daskalaki et al., 2020). In addition, the use of SERVQUAL in measuring the quality of services in museums is quite ineffective. For this reason, Frochot and Hughes (2000), based on the service quality model SERVQUAL, developed another specialized model for evaluating cultural services, the HISTOQUAL scale. The main approach of HISTOQUAL is based on the comparison between visitor perceptions and their expectations. The article analyzes the HISTOQUAL in the Archeological Museums of Greece.

Торговая крепость «Великого советника»: караван-сараи средневекового Карасу

This article generalizes and systematises the experience of studying mediaeval caravanserais in Karasubazar, with the ruined site of one structure located on the territory of the modern city of Belogorsk (Republic of the Crimea). Various groups of historical sources have been used, with considerable attention to the journals of numerous travellers who visited the Crimean Peninsula (P. S. Pallas, P. I. Sumarokov, F. Dubois de Montpereux, A. N. Demidov, etc.). The earliest travelogue was written by Evliya Celebi. This Ottoman traveller observed the largest khan in the town (hereinafter referred to as the Upper Tash-khan, or Sefer Gazi-aga’s caravanserai) shortly after its significant reconstruction and strengthening, which was probably made with the view of the need to strengthen the defences of the town and its residents in the view of regular devastating raids of the Cossacks in the 1620–1630s. The widely used graphic sources, particularly the works by C. Bossoli made in the early 1840s, indicate that the buildings in question were abandoned and lost their former function. The analysis has been made of the works of K. F. Bogaevskii, whose sketches of Crimean antiquities made under the order from the KrymOKhRIS (Section / Sub-department / Committee for the Protection of the Monuments of Art, Antiquity, and People’s daily Life in the Crimea) reflected the preservation of the monuments in the mid-1920s with photographic accuracy. Pencil sketches by U. A. Bodaninskii have been used as well. A set of photographs from the collections of the Bakhchisarai Historical and Cultural Archaeological Museum Preserve, A. V. Shchusev State Scientific Research Museum of Architecture (Moscow), and Central Museum of Taurida (Simferopol) allowed the ones to reconstruct the appearance of the site in the 1920–1930s. The participation of academic institutions in the study of cultural heritage sites of Karasubazar in the first half of the twentieth century has been analysed, and the activities of the Central State Restoration Workshops which sent the architect B. N. Zasypkin to the Crimea have been considered. The main stages of the creation and functioning of the trading khans in the town under study have been characterized, and the architectural analysis has been done.

Коллекция месопотамских древностей в Йенском университете им. Фридриха Шиллера: история и характеристика собрания

The “Frau Professor Hilprecht Collection”, kept at the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Middle East at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, is the largest collection of Babylonian antiquities in Germany, rivaling in its cultural and historical significance the collections of the Museum of the Ancient Middle East in Berlin, the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, the Yale Babylonian Collection in New Haven, the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul, the British Museum in London, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and a number of other thematic museum collections. Standing out from their background due to the quality of objects, mainly discovered during the excavations of Nippur and dated from the Sumerian and Old Akkadian period (IV–III thousand BC) up to the early Islamic period, the Jena collection plays an important role in the study of culture, history, science and literature of the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia. The purpose of this article is an analytical review of this collection, highlighting the most significant and interesting artifacts, as well as considering the history of the origin, movement and study of this collection. Special attention is paid to the literary cuneiform tablets, some of which are unique and no longer found in any of the Mesopotamian collections, as well as the one-of-a-kind map of Nippur, dating from the middle of the II millennium BC and considered as the oldest map of the city in the world. The most important topic of the publication and translation of the texts of the tablets and the step-by-step digitization of all the objects of the collection is also touched upon.