22nd September 2010, 03:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 22nd September 2010, 03:28 PM by Kel.)
A find provides you with information about the context within/abutting which it was found, the objects with which it was associated and the feature within which the context was formed. Without the context, a find is an interesting isolated curiosity which only tells you that it exists.
Museums provide displays of finds for people who don't share the perspective of archaeologists. Hence a museum may choose to display objects which maybe have no contextual information but are nice to look at and around which an interesting narrative can be constructed, rather than grotty pot sherds or flint flakes replete with documented source data.
A museum is there to show the public what they want to see (they pay for them, after all) but also to provide reference collections of the "boring" stuff that can be used in serious academic research. Hence museum galleries are used by the public and museum archives and stores are used by archaeologists.
Different groups of people place different "values" on objects. The shiny things aren't always valuable in the eyes of an archaeologist, in the same way that a rare chunk of battered Neolithic pot isn't necessarily valuable to a member of the public.
Museums provide displays of finds for people who don't share the perspective of archaeologists. Hence a museum may choose to display objects which maybe have no contextual information but are nice to look at and around which an interesting narrative can be constructed, rather than grotty pot sherds or flint flakes replete with documented source data.
A museum is there to show the public what they want to see (they pay for them, after all) but also to provide reference collections of the "boring" stuff that can be used in serious academic research. Hence museum galleries are used by the public and museum archives and stores are used by archaeologists.
Different groups of people place different "values" on objects. The shiny things aren't always valuable in the eyes of an archaeologist, in the same way that a rare chunk of battered Neolithic pot isn't necessarily valuable to a member of the public.