Historical Artifacts Research Articles

Museum Artifact Conservation Training for Social Science Educators and Students in Pontianak

The West Kalimantan Museum stores and exhibits a collection of items with historical, scientific, artistic, and cultural significance, primarily originating from West Kalimantan Province. It is crucial for social science educators and students in West Kalimantan to comprehend the significance of visiting the museum in person. This allows them to directly witness and study historical and cultural artifacts of West Kalimantan, thereby reinforcing the knowledge they acquire from books. Hence, social science education lecturers of Tanjungpura University organized a community service program known as "Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat" (abbreviated as PKM) that invited both social science teachers and students of Pontianak to local museums for a visit. The objectives of this training encompassed two main goals. Firstly, it aimed to generate interest among teachers and students in discovering and familiarizing themselves with the museum. Secondly, it sought to enhance the knowledge of teachers and students regarding the conservation of the museum's collections. Following the training, the lecturers gathered feedback from participants via a Google form to assess their opinions regarding the museum collection and artifact preservation training. This data was then analyzed using a quantitative approach, and the results were presented using descriptive statistics. A total of 19 individuals responded to the survey, consisting of 7 teachers and 12 students. The results indicated that the participants had a positive response to the activity and expressed a request for similar programs to be conducted in the future.

Defining Historic Townscape Characteristics following Local People’s Perceptions: Developing a Townscape Character Assessment Policy for Chiang Mai Old City, Thailand

Townscape in urban heritage sites contributes a vital visual perception of the public realm. It consists of the streetscape, buildings, natural features, and human perception, which include the social, cultural, and way of life on the scenes. Historic Townscape represents tangible and intangible scenes related to historical artifacts and the historical value of the places. Townscape Character Assessment (TCA) can apply to evaluate the quality of urban elements which represent the significance of social, cultural, and human perception of urban heritage. However, Chiang Mai City Council should have paid more attention to the valued process of establishing a townscape character assessment policy and has not been part of the ongoing heritage preservation process. In the critical urban heritage environment of Chiang Mai Old City, the aim is to define the townscape characteristics of the city and to be used as fundamental knowledge to establish the suitable Townscape Character Assessment (TCA) for Chiang Mai Old City. This research study has considered four aspects in terms of townscape Character Assessment Policy study that could establish the Townscape Characteristics of Chiang Mai Old City. These are the quality of the streetscape; cultural expression; perceptual factors; and socio-cultural values. Generally, Townscape Character Assessment employs the four significant factors to value townscape characteristics. This study has considered the ongoing new world heritage site as Chiang Mai is a “living heritage” which has faced the loss of greenery, cleanliness, and identity in its inner city and is likely to have issues when the city becomes a heritage tourism destination. The study involved twenty-five local participants and used a mixed methodology consisting of questionnaires, photo-elicitation interviews (PEI), needle method, and in-depth interviews. The results found that the connection of religious places, urban heritage artifacts, cultural activities, and the natural colors of local flowers in the city represented its characteristics. The study revealed possible factors to evaluate a townscape character assessment policy for CMOC, including the physical need for streetscape improvement, cultural expression along the streetscapes, perception of the quality of the streetscapes, and representation of socio-cultural values of the streetscapes. These results can be implemented in developing assessment guidelines for any heritage sites undergoing heritage nomination or any historical cities concerned with townscape character.

The Silent Enemy (1930) and n’Daki Menan: Reclaiming Mise-en-Scène as Authorial Expression

Paramount Pictures’ The Silent Enemy, released in 1930, is a fascinating cultural artifact made and released during the transition from silent to sound film. One of the last silent feature films made by the studio, this critically acclaimed film took three years to make and was shot in large part on location on n’Daki Menan, the traditional territory of the Teme Augama Anishnabai in northern Ontario. Like other silent films made in Indigenous communities during this period such as Curtis’ In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914) and Myles’ The Daughter of Dawn (1920), The Silent Enemy employed local Indigenous actors and drew on their knowledge and traditions to construct its vision of pre-contact Anishinaabe life. While the exact location and community are never mentioned in The Silent Enemy itself, local Anishinaabe people were hired to act in the film and make the costumes and sets according to pre-contact standards, all elements of the film form that added greatly to the production’s claims of authenticity. This cultural labour went uncredited and unacknowledged. While the film recycles the prominent ethnographic narrative of the dying “Indian” culture, it does feature ironic moments of Indigenous survivance, such as an introductory sequence with Chief Yellow Robe shot in synchronized sound, naturalistic performances, material culture designed by locals that continue to captivate community members, and over-the-top colonial takes on pre-contact life. Until now, most readings of this silent feature focused on the celebrity image of Chief Long Lance and his “outing” as an African American and its use of Native American actors in leading roles, but for far too long, the story of its long-lasting influence as both a personal and a public historical artifact for the Teme Augama Anishnabai has not been told. The authors’ method for telling this story will alternate between oral storytelling and scholarly analysis of the film’s formal and thematic elements. The authors hope that by drawing on oral and traditional storytelling approaches, Indigenous ways of knowing will be foregrounded.

Conservation Digitalization through Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM): Online Database Theoretical Review

It is essential in today's world to protect and maintain cultural heritage in the face of threats posed by modernity, development, and climate change, all of which have the potential to shorten the useful lifespan of cultural heritage. On the other hand, the effort involved in conservation is far more challenging since incomplete documentation frequently leads to misunderstandings and incorrect interpretations. Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) is a tool that came into latter part of the 2000s with the intention of assisting in the management of the conservation, rehabilitation, and retrofitting of heritage structures. When it comes to the management and digitization of documents associated with historical buildings and artefacts, HBIM is often regarded as the most trustworthy tools available. The main objective of this paper is to identify theories concerning HBIM based on theoretical review conducted via online database. On 9th October 2022, the search had been made using Scopus online database, 1346 articles and conferences paper were selected in this research, after screening phases, only 65 high quality articles were included. As a result, HBIM digitalization model is proposed.

Quantitative analysis of copper alloys by means of portable X-ray fluorescence: A comparison between analysis of shavings and surfaces

The investigation of the alloy composition is a key point for studying archaeological and historical metal artefacts. Portable X-ray fluorescence is the most commonly used technique to perform non-invasive alloy analysis. Nevertheless, quantitative results are usually not reliable when metal surface is covered by either corrosion or patination layers. In such cases, micro samples, representative of the bulk alloy, have to be taken. Shavings samples are a good compromise between representativeness and degree of invasiveness when the purpose of the analysis is to obtain accurate quantitative data. This work aims at evaluating and comparing accuracy and precision of X-ray Fluorescence quantitative data obtained by performing analysis on the surface and on shavings of certified reference materials. Results point out that quantitative data obtained from surface and shavings samples have comparable accuracy and precision if a suitable calibration model using certified reference materials in the same form, i.e. surface or shavings, is applied. Repeatability tests were also carried out using the same certified reference materials. Results proved repeatable within 5% for all the detected elements. Uncertainties are slightly higher for shavings with respect to surface measurements. Two case studies concerning an archaeological and a Renaissance bronze artefacts are also discussed.

Eksplorasi Etnomatematika Pada Artefak Peninggalan Sejarah Museum Mpu Tantular

This research was conducted to explore the Mpu Tantular Museum in depth by applying the concept of ethnomathematics. In this case, the researcher attempts to describe the real shape of the historical artifacts of the Mpu Tantular Museum using mathematical concepts. The type of research applied is qualitative research with an exploratory approach that focuses on the relationship between two-dimensional and three-dimensional geometric concepts with historical artifacts in the Mpu Tantular Museum. The results of this study indicate that: (1) Ethnomatematics is a scientific discipline that combines mathematics with culture. Which is where ethnomathematics can be a model of a mathematical approach in a cultural perspective which has very good potential for teachers to develop mathematics learning into contextual learning which can also introduce national culture to students. (2) There are 20 (twenty) objects that have the concept of second-dimensional and third-dimensional geometry. 13 (thirteen) artifact objects having a two-dimensional geometric concept, and 8 (eight) artifact objects having a three-dimensional geometric concept. (3) Small artefacts such as fossils, metal inscriptions, nekara and other similar small sizes are placed in a box-shaped glass protective case with a total surface area of 2.45 m2 consisting of a windshield covering an area of 1.4 m2 and top glass protector covering an area of 1.75 m2.

The value of a modern science museum

The modern science museum is not merely a collection of historical artefacts and exhibits from the natural world depicting physical, chemical and biological phenomena. It is also a science center, which creates a space for learning about and understanding science mainly through interactive exhibits. Working with interactive exhibits can play an important role in the educational process of young people interested in science. It can provide an opportunity to actively engage in making observations, analyze information and draw conclusions, in an enjoyable setting. The incorporation of these ideas in science education is reflected in the commonly used phrases, “learning science by doing science” and “science is fun”. 
 
 At a time when developing an educational system relevant for Sri Lanka in the 21st century is being discussed at various levels of policy making, undue importance is given sometimes to changing syllabi and course contents. In keeping with world-wide trends, a more important aspect of reforms should be to shift the focus from curriculum-based teacher directed education, to one that is curiosity driven, student centred active learning, particularly in the early years. In catalyzing this shift, the access to modern science museums can play a major role. It will be difficult for a school to provide children with the experience they can have in a science centre functioning within a science museum. In addition to exhibits, the museum will provide for an information system including a library and also other resources such as an auditorium for public lectures, films and demonstrations. The learning experience in a science museum is often a social experience, shared by family, friends and other visitors to the museum.
 
 Thus, science museums will also serve to spread scientific knowledge and the culture of science among the general population which will help in creating an informed population, better able to take rational decisions on issues facing society.

Application of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Depth Profiling of Multilayer and Graded Materials.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has emerged as a powerful analytical method for the elemental mapping and depth profiling of many materials. This review offers insight into the contemporary applications of LIBS for the depth profiling of materials whose elemental composition changes either abruptly (multilayered materials) or continuously (functionally graded or corroded materials). The spectrum of materials is discussed, spanning from laboratory-synthesized model materials to real-world products including materials for fusion reactors, photovoltaic cells, ceramic and galvanic coatings, lithium batteries, historical and archaeological artifacts, and polymeric materials. The nuances of ablation conditions and the resulting crater morphologies, which are instrumental in depth-related studies, are discussed in detail. The challenges of calibration and quantitative profiling using LIBS are also addressed. Finally, the possible directions of the evolution of LIBS applications are commented on.

Frozen, Cold, or Cool? Chemical Assessment of the Effectiveness of Storage Conditions for Celluloid 3D Objects.

Preserving celluloid artifacts is challenging for museums, as this plastic is highly prone to degradation. Frozen, cold, and cool storage solutions are typically recommended for inhibiting the chemical degradation of celluloid. However, they are rarely implemented for three-dimensional celluloid (3D-CN) objects because low temperatures might cause irreversible effects (e.g., microcracking). This work presents the effects of four different storage temperatures (+23 °C, +13 °C, +9 °C, -15 °C) on the preservation of artificially aged 3D-CN mock-ups, aiming at understanding their effectiveness by measuring molecular weight distribution, camphor, and nitrogen contents after storage. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) results showed that the least loss of camphor content and fewer polymer chain scissions happened at -15 °C, hinting that this temperature was the best for preservation. However, the heterogeneous nature of celluloid alteration, i.e., the development of degradation gradients in thicker 3D-CN objects (>0.5 mm), made it necessary to apply a novel sampling technique, which selectively considers several depths for analyses from the surface to the core (depth profiling). This depth profiling made monitoring the degradation evolution dependent on the storage conditions in the thicker mock-ups possible. This approach was also used for the first time to quantify the polymer chain scission, camphor loss, and denitration of historical artifacts, indicating a dramatic difference in the degradation stage between surface and core. The effectiveness of frozen storage on the chemical stability of 3D-CN after seven months could support museums to consider reducing the storage temperatures to preserve precious artifacts.

The lethal and sterile doses of gamma radiation on the museums pest, varied carpet beetle, Anthrenus verbasci (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

Museums preserve historical cultural artifacts and serve as an essential resource for current and future generations seeking first-hand knowledge about the diversity of life on Earth. However, significant changes in climate from temperature and humidity cause serious biotic degradation. Despite ongoing insect control treatments, insect pests are still a major problem for museums due to the lack of suitable and unsafe environments that are provided for the storage and display of the collection. The varied carpet beetle, Anthrenus verbasci (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) is one of the major stored product pests whose larvae cause serious damage to household items and museum specimens. Therefore, this research aims to study the effect of gamma radiation on the larval, pupal and adult stages. The effects of gamma radiation have been studied on 3rd instar larvae (100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 Gy). The results showed that mortality in the larval stage significantly increased with increasing gamma radiation dose, which was reflected in the eclosion of the adult stage. The exposure of one-day-old pupae to 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 Gy of gamma radiation showed that the higher the dose, the lower the percentage of adult emergence. Additionally, there was a significant increase in the percentage of mortality in A. verbasci adults with increasing radiation doses when the newly emerged adults were irradiated with 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 Gy. The LD50 and LD90 of gamma radiation doses on larvae, pupae and adults were calculated, and the malformations in all stages were photographed. The fecundity and fertility of A. verbasci adults that were exposed to radiation as one-day-old pupae decreased gradually with increasing doses of gamma radiation and reached 100% sterility when exposed to a dose of 150 Gy. Among all the treatments, the sterile dose (150 Gy) or lethal dose (1000 Gy) showed superior performance over other treatments and was adjudged as the best treatments, which prevented the subsequent development and complete mortality of the pest.

The creation of the geographical space of Xanadu of the Yuan Dynasty and the establishment of a unified multiethnic state

From the establishment of a seat of government by Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty, at his residence at Jinlianchuan Prairie to the construction of the city of Kaiping, and from thence to the establishment of Kaiping as Xanadu, the northern capital of the Yuan Dynasty, a series of pivotal historical events influencing trends within the Yuan Empire took place in this steppe city. Shizu ultimately chose to implement a two-capital system, traveling back and forth between Xanadu and Khanbaliq to handle court administration and attend simultaneously to the needs of the Central Plains and the grasslands. By means of this structure, the Mongolian rulers declared their ownership of the territories of the Central Plains as well as the steppe, establishing their dominance and control by means of a ceremonial symbol. Analyzing the political and historical significance of this geographical space from Kaiping to Xanadu makes it clear that this region was an important historical artifact for the evolution of the Chinese people as an ethnic community with pluralistic unity. That the Yuan Dynasty achieved the integration of ethnic minorities and Han Chinese as one family as well as territorial unification represents a great step forward in Chinese history.

AI Based Tamil Palm Leaf Character Recognition

A brand-new character recognition method has been created especially for Tamil manuscripts written on palm leaves. A variety of preprocessing techniques are used to obtain reliable recognition because these manuscripts are complicated and have age-related deterioration. Using cutting-edge image processing techniques, manuscript photos are enhanced and preprocessed in the earliest stage to improve clarity. Then, in accordance with the distinctive arrangement of these historical artifacts, these photos are divided into three separate portions. After segmentation, these parts are converted to grayscale to create the ideal contrast needed for character detection. Noise canceling algorithms have been incorporated to prevent any distortions or degradations that may occur as a result of the age of the manuscripts or other environmental influences. After this mitigation, the photos are binarized to emphasize the isolation of the figures from their surroundings. This makes sure that each character stands out clearly, laying the groundwork for the crucial next step: segmenting individual characters. The foundation of the training phase is this segmentation. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which excel at handling image-based tasks, were incorporated into the deep learning architecture used for model building. Utilizing a sizable dataset compiled from numerous articles, the model underwent intensive training. As a result, the model was able to recognise characters from these texts with an astounding accuracy rate of 89%. With the help of Flask, the complete system has been easily integrated into a user-friendly web interface. This platform's goal is quite clear: fusing the elegance and profundity of ancient scripts with the effectiveness of contemporary technology. It is positioned as a crucial tool for both academic research and teaching purposes. By doing this, it guarantees that the priceless history and knowledge found in these manuscripts remain accessible and lays the groundwork for their preservation for future generations. Keywords— Character recognition, Tamil palm manuscripts, Preprocessing, Visual clarity, Grayscale conversion, Noise cancellation, Binarization, Segmentation, Training, Flask-based web interface, Research, Education.

Под охраной музейного отдела: судьба усадебных коллекций Подмосковья и их владельцев после революции 1917 года

В статье анализируется судьба дворянских имений Подмосковья и находившихся в них усадебных коллекций, национализированных после революции 1917 года. Использованы материалы Государственного архива Российской Федерации и Центральногогосударственного архива литературы и искусства, статьи музейных исследователей, воспоминания современников. Отмечена роль бывших владельцев усадеб как хранителей и руководителей музеев, впоследствии возникавших на основе имений. Характеризуются принадлежавшие бывшим владельцам произведения искусства и исторические артефакты, описывается последующая история коллекций, как правило, становившихся частью музейного фонда советской России. Выявлены и обобщены в виде таблицы разнообразные формы приспособления усадеб под общественные и государственные нужды, получившие распространение в послереволюционный период. Определен ряд тенденций, связанных с послереволюционной судьбой культурных ценностей, входивших в состав подмосковных усадебных коллекций. The study aims to systematize the processes that took place after the 1917 Revolution with collections of art, books and other cultural property located in the noble estates of Moscow Oblast. The materials were documents stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Central State Archive of Literature and Art, monographs and articles by researchers on the history of estates near Moscow in the 19th and 20th centuries. Historical-systemic, comparative and other methods applied in historical research were used. The study notes that estates near Moscow and collections of art works located in them during the events of the 1917 Revolution were rarely plundered by peasants. The author describes the role of former owners of estates as curators and managers of museums that subsequently arose on the basis of estates; analyzes the process of registering and describing property located in estates near Moscow; characterizes the works of art and historical artifacts that belonged to the former owners and the subsequent history of the collections, which, as a rule, became part of the museum fund of Soviet Russia. In some cases, the author comments on the fate of the former owners. The study focuses on the Moscow Oblast estates of the Uvarovs (Porechye), the Shcherbatovs (Brattsevo), the Sheremetevs (Vvedenskoye), the Olsufievs (Ershovo), and others. In total, the author briefly characterizes the post-revolutionary history of about one and a half dozen estates near Moscow and their collections. The forms of adaptation of estates for public and state needs, which became widespread in the post-revolutionary period, are diverse, and the author identifies and summarizes them in a table. The several important trends related to the subsequent fate of cultural values that were part of the Moscow Oblast estate collections the author identified are: (1) conflict-free relations between landlords and peasants had a positive impact on the preservation of the estate heritage of Moscow Oblast; (2) the so-called “museums of landlord life” (“museums of the nobility”), which existed in the first years of the Soviet power, became widespread in the region; however, this trend did not develop further: over the following ten years, most of these museums were closed due to ideological inconsistency; (3) the last owners of estates played a major role in preserving cultural values at the beginning of the Revolution. Thanks to their contribution, unique cultural values that were previously part of estate collections today adorn exhibitions of the best museums in the country.

Comparing the impact of live-tree versus historic-timber data on palaeoenvironmental inferences in tree-ring science, eastern North America

Dendroarchaeological data from historic structures and artefacts have the potential to extend tree-ring chronologies spatially and temporally, especially where old-growth forests have been extensively modified or harvested. While these data may contribute to an improved understanding of past climate and ecology, critical differences in the properties of live-tree and historic-timber data might affect results and interpretations of large-scale studies, such as those relying on large datasets from public databases like the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB). The objective of this work was to compare summary measures of live-tree versus historic-timber datasets likely to affect outcomes and inferences of typical paleoenvironmental applications. We used 99 live-tree (LT) and 41 historic-timber (HT) datasets collected in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States and compared common analytical measures for understanding past climate and ecology, including temporal coverage, species composition, recruitment patterns, segment length, series coherence/mean interseries correlation (as Rbar), expressed population signal (EPS), subsample signal strength (SSS) and response to drought and extreme climate events. We found that tree-ring data from historic timbers record some ecological events similarly to live trees and are sensitive to some climate conditions, with important caveats related to the influence of site and tree selection on analytical measures. In some cases, these caveats can be overcome through improved collection of metadata and additional analyses. In all cases, potential differences in LT and HT data should be considered by those who perform large-scale analyses using public tree ring databases, especially as more scientists contribute historic-timber datasets.

Pemmy’s Alphabet Book

An extraordinary book made from fabrics, titled Pemmy’s Alphabet Book, has recently been gifted to the Rijksmuseum. This book is a copy of Rie Cramer’s 1936 A is een Aapje. What makes this work so special is that it was made between 1942 and 1945 in the Japanese internment camp of Brastagi on East Sumatra, where handiwork and the possession of books were increasingly banned. Mies Aalbersberg made this book with the help of other women in the camp, to celebrate the birthday of her daughter Pem Hagers, the donor of the object. According to the stories her mother told her, Mies supervised the making of the pages. Research has shown that the consistently rendered images were probably all made by the same person, whereas the rhymes were embroidered with varying stitches and by several hands. This, like collecting the various materials that were used in the book, may have been the contribution made by the other women. Even though several examples of embroidered fabrics from Camp Brastagi have survived, none of them are as elaborate as this book. It shows the artistic power of those women, who in captivity jointly created a book, which may have allowed them to escape from their awful situation just for a moment. This book made from fabrics is a valuable historical artefact which not only shows the creativity and the resilience of the women in the camp, but is also a poignant reminder of a dark period in history.

Novel Microemulsions with Essential Oils for Environmentally Friendly Cleaning of Copper Cultural Heritage Artifacts.

Cleaning represents an important and challenging operation in the conservation of cultural heritage, and at present, a key issue consists in the development of more sustainable, "green" materials and methods to perform it. In the present work, a novel xylene-in-water microemulsion based on nonionic surfactants with low toxicity was obtained, designed as low-impact cleaning agent for metallic historic objects. Phase diagram of the mixtures containing polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropilene triblock copolymer Pluronic P84 and D-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) as surfactants, water, ethanol and xylene was studied, and a microemulsion with low surfactant content was selected as suitable cleaning nanosystem. Essential oils (EOs) from thyme and cinnamon leaf were added to the selected microemulsion in order to include other beneficial properties such as anticorrosive and antifungal protection. The microemulsions with or without EOs were characterized by size, size distribution and zeta potential. The cleaning efficacy of the tested microemulsions was assessed based on their ability to remove two types of artificial dirt by using X-ray energy dispersion spectrometry (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle measurements and color analysis. Microemulsions exhibit high capacity to remove artificial dirt from model copper coupons in spite of very low content of the organic solvent. Both thyme and cinnamon oil loading microemulsions prove to significantly reduce the corrosion rate of treated metallic plates compared to those of bare copper. The antifungal activity of the novel type of microemulsion was evaluated against Aspergillus niger, reported as main treat in biocorrosion of historic copper artifacts. Application of microemulsion with small amounts of EOs on Cu plates inhibits the growth of fungi, providing a good fungicidal effect.

Ex Situ and In Situ Artificial Thermo-Aging Study of the Natural Degradation of Bombyx mori Silk Fibroin

This study investigates the degradation mechanism of silk fibroin through Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The secondary structure of silk fibroin-based materials is monitored using FTIR, and various estimators are calculated to assess the impact of degradation conditions and aging time. The oxidation estimator shows consistent growth, indicating peptide bond oxidation from the early stages of artificial aging, regardless of the conditions. The environment influences the hydrolysis estimator, with water introduction leading to significant changes. The crystallinity estimator reflects the overall degradation level, affected by oxidation and hydrolysis. XRD and FTIR analysis of historical silk banners up to 500 years old demonstrate a decrease in crystallinity and an increase in hydrolysis and oxidation. The presence of water accelerates the oxidation process, while crystallinity changes are primarily driven by oxidation. Fibroin degradation affects both antiparallel and parallel regions, with water playing a crucial role in accelerating hydrolysis and causing structural shifts. This study enhances our understanding of silk fibroin degradation and provides valuable insights for preserving historical silk artifacts.

Archaeological Antiquities of Church and Archaeological Museum at Kyiv Theological Academy (1872-1919)

The purpose of the research paper is to study the formation history of the collection of archaeological antiquities of the Church and Archaeological Museum at Kyiv Theological Academy, the ways of their acquisition by the Museum, the content of the archaeological collections, the personalities of the collectors, and the historical fate of the holdings.
 Scientific novelty. The history of the formation and content of the collections of archaeological antiquities is separated from the general issue of the activities of the Church and Archaeological Society and the Museum at Kyiv Theological Academy.
 Conclusions. The Church and Archaeological Museum at Kyiv Theological Academy, founded in 1872, was the largest and most significant in the territory of modern Ukraine in terms of the number, variety, and value of the objects stored. Despite its initial focus on collecting mainly church objects, during the existence of the Museum, its collection accumulated a lot of other archaeological and historical artifacts. Accumulation of antiquities in the Museum contributed to their preservation and scientific study.
 Among the archaeological antiquities of the Museum were objects of the Stone, Copper, and Bronze Ages, ancient Egyptian, antique Greek and Rome, Greek colonies of the Northern Black Sea region, Hellenistic, Scythian, Sarmatian, Gothic, Slavic, Byzantine, Kyivan Rus, Lithuanian era, period of 1569-1795, and the items belonged to the Cossacks of the 18th century, etc.
 Objects came from the territory of modern Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Palestine, etc. Mainly, there were artifacts from excavations and accidental finds. Collections were given to the Museum by private individuals. Among them, the greatest contribution to the enriching of holdings belonged to Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin), Bishop Porfyrii (Uspenskyi), M.O. Leopardov, V.Z. Zavitnevich, V.I. Hoshkevich, numerous donators from the clergy, teachers, and archeology enthusiasts. The greatest contribution to the preservation, research, scientific description, and publication of the Museum’s collections belonged to M.I. Petrov.
 Disasters of the 20th century (two world wars, the revolutions of 1917, and the dominance of atheistic ideology in the USSR) negatively affected the preservation of the rich collections of the Church and Archaeological Museum at Kyiv Theological Academy. Many museum objects disappeared, were stolen, or were simply destroyed; the Museum itself also ceased to exist. However, part of the collections survived, and some items from them are still stored in some Kyiv museums.

3D modeling of historical measurement instruments using photogrammetric and laser scanning techniques

Historical artifacts are the common heritage of all humanity. Therefore, preserving historical artifacts is very important in keeping the cultural heritage alive and passing it on to generations. One of the most effective methods used in documentation studies is the photogrammetric method. Although these methods are widely used, they are changing and developing day by day by gaining momentum with technology development. Laser scanners, which have entered our lives with the development of technology, have provided new opportunities to three-dimensional (3D) modeling and have become a frequently used method because they can model even objects with complex geometry in a short time and in a practical way. In this study, Theodolite (18th century), Sextant (18th century) and Graphometer (18th century) instruments on display at the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Geomatics Engineering Department Historic Measurement Instruments Museum were modeled using photogrammetric and laser scanning methods. To compare the accuracy of the models, caliper measurements were taken from specific points of the instruments used in the modeling. Measurements were made on the models using the same points, and a comparison was made on the findings.

Using historical evidence: The semantic profiles of Ancient History in senior secondary school

This paper presents findings from the Australian Research Council funded ‘Disciplinarity, Knowledge and Schooling’ project (DISKS) which investigates knowledge-building practices in Australian secondary schools and gave rise to the ground-breaking notions of ‘semantic waves’ (Maton, 2013) and ‘power pedagogy’ (Martin, 2013). In this paper, we investigate student writing in senior secondary school Ancient History. We focus on how students use evidence in their responses to different types of exam questions. Our research question focuses on the extent to which key features of responses to short answer questions appear in extended responses and vice versa. This focus arose through findings that teachers in our study tended to view short answer questions as a ‘mini’ version of extended responses and prepared students accordingly. The similarities and differences are important to identify as extended responses make a significant contribution to the overall exam grade. To better understand the use of evidence in responses to different types of exam questions, the study draws on the dimension of Semantics in Legitimation Code Theory (Maton, 2013). We use the newly developed wording and clausing tools (Doran & Maton, 2018, forthcoming) to analyse the relative strength of context dependence in responses to Year 12 exam questions. Context dependence is particularly relevant to how students use evidence, as it involves relating the concrete particulars of specific historical artefacts, events, and the behaviours of historical figures to more abstract concepts in the discipline of history that are not bound to one historical setting. Our analysis tracks relative shifts in context dependence in student texts to generate semantic profiles of their exam responses. Findings show that although teachers may use the writing of short answer questions as preparation towards the high-stakes extended writing tasks, short answer responses are not ‘minature’ versions of extended responses. We argue that the differences are teachable and propose the use of model texts to make these features visible to students. Beyond the timeframe of secondary school education, learning to use evidence, particularly for the development of arguments, may provide a robust foundation for tertiary level writing tasks where students need to control degrees of context dependence.