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Showing 1281 - 1300 of 4119 items
By Marie Louise Stig Sørensen, John Carman. 2008
This is the first volume specifically dedicated to the consolidation and clarification of Heritage Studies as a distinct field with…
its own means of investigation. It presents the range of methods that can be used and illustrates their application through case studies from different parts of the world, including the UK and USA. The challenge that the collection makes explicit is that Heritage Studies must develop a stronger recognition of the scope and nature of its data and a concise yet explorative understanding of its analytical methods. The methods considered fall within three broad categories: textual/discourse analysis, methods for investigating people’s attitudes and behaviour; and methods for exploring the material qualities of heritage. The methods discussed and illustrated range from techniques such as text analysis, interviews, participant observation, to semiotic analysis of heritage sites and the use of GIS. Each paper discusses the ways in which methods used in social analysis generally are explored and adapted to the specific demands that arise when applied to the investigation of heritage in its many forms. Heritage Studies is a seminal volume that will help to define the field. The global perspective and the shared focus upon the development of reflexive methodologies ensure that the volume explores these central issues in a manner that is simultaneously case-specific and of general relevance.By Thomas Kvan, Yehuda Kalay, Janice Affleck. 2008
The use of new media in the service of cultural heritage is a fast growing field, known variously as virtual…
or digital heritage. New Heritage, under this denomination, broadens the definition of the field to address the complexity of cultural heritage such as the related social, political and economic issues. This book is a collection of 20 key essays, of authors from 11 countries, representing a wide range of professions including architecture, philosophy, history, cultural heritage management, new media, museology and computer science, which examine the application of new media to cultural heritage from a different points of view. Issues surrounding heritage interpretation to the public and the attempts to capture the essence of both tangible (buildings, monuments) and intangible (customs, rituals) cultural heritage are investigated in a series of innovative case studies.By Sharon Macdonald. 2008
How does a city and a nation deal with a legacy of perpetrating atrocity? How are contemporary identities negotiated and…
shaped in the face of concrete reminders of a past that most wish they did not have? Difficult Heritage focuses on the case of Nuremberg – a city whose name is indelibly linked with Nazism – to explore these questions and their implications. Using an original in-depth research, using archival, interview and ethnographic sources, it provides not only fascinating new material and perspectives, but also more general original theorizing of the relationship between heritage, identity and material culture. The book looks at how Nuremberg has dealt with its Nazi past post-1945. It focuses especially, but not exclusively, on the city’s architectural heritage, in particular, the former Nazi party rally grounds, on which the Nuremburg rallies were staged. The book draws on original sources, such as city council debates and interviews, to chart a lively picture of debate, action and inaction in relation to this site and significant others, in Nuremberg and elsewhere. In doing so, Difficult Heritage seeks to highlight changes over time in the ways in which the Nazi past has been dealt with in Germany, and the underlying cultural assumptions, motivations and sources of friction involved. Whilst referencing wider debates and giving examples of what was happening elsewhere in Germany and beyond, Difficult Heritage provides a rich in-depth account of this most fascinating of cases. It also engages in comparative reflection on developments underway elsewhere in order to contextualize what was happening in Nuremberg and to show similarities to and differences from the ways in which other ‘difficult heritages’ have been dealt with elsewhere. By doing so, the author offers an informed perspective on ways of dealing with difficult heritage, today and in the future, discussing innovative museological, educational and artistic practice.By Yvonne Shashoua. 2008
Plastic objects are included more than ever in museums and galleries collections these days, but these items can start to…
deteriorate when they a just a few years old. In this book Yvonne Shashoua provides the essential knowledge needed to keep plastic pieces in the best possible condition so that they can continue to be enjoyed for many years. The historical development of plastics, as well as the technology, their physical and chemical properties, identification, degradation and conservation are all clearly and concisely covered within this single volume, making it an invaluable reference for the increasing number of conservators and curators that are encountering plastics in their day to day work.Written by an acknowledged authority on this period and region, this is the first full-length book published in English on…
a Roman-Gallic town. Drawing from the extensive excavation that he has carried out on the site for many years, Simon Esmonde-Cleary presents this historical and archaeological survey of the important Roman and medieval site of St Bertrand de Comminges, or Lugdunum Convenarum, which was a great meeting place of routes in antiquity and stretches along the Pyrenees in the Gascony region between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Specifically including a chapter on visiting Comminges in the present day, a part of southern France that is a popular holiday destination, Rome in thePyrenees will be invaluable reading to students and scholars of Roman provincial studies and Roman urbanism.By Sheila Watson, Simon J. Knell, Suzanne MacLeod. 2008
This single-volume museum studies reference title explores the ways in which museums are shaped and configured and how they themselves…
attempt to shape and change the world around them. Written by a leading group of museum professionals and academics from around the world and including new research, the chapters reveal the diverse and subtle means by which museums engage and in so doing change and are changed. The authors span over 200 years discussing national museums, ecomuseums, society museums, provincial galleries, colonial museums, the showman’s museum, and science centres. Topics covered include: disciplinary practices, ethnic representation, postcolonial politics, economic aspiration, social reform, indigenous models, conceptions of history, urban regeneration, sustainability, sacred objects, a sense of place, globalization, identities, social responsibility, controversy, repatriation, human remains, drama, learning and education. Capturing the richness of the museum studies discipline, Museum Revolutions is the ideal text for museum studies courses, providing a wide range of interlinked themes and the latest thought and research from experts in the field. It is invaluable for those students and museum professionals who want to understand the past, present and future of the museum.By Francis P. McManamon, Andrew Stout, Jodi A. Barnes. 2008
In a snapshot of 21st century archaeological resource management as a global enterprise, these 25 contributors show the range of…
activities, issues, and solutions undertaken by contemporary managers of heritage sites around the world. They show how the linkages between global archaeology and funding organizations, national policies, practices, and ideologies, and local populations and their cultural and economic interests foster complexity of the issues at all levels. Case materials from five continents introduce common themes of archaeologist relations with descendant groups, public outreach, national/local relationships, and data and site preservation. Sponsored by the World Archaeological Congress.By N Elizabeth Schlatter. 2008
This concise volume is the place to start for anyone considering a career in museums. Museum professional and author N.…
Elizabeth Schlatter outlines the nature of the profession as a whole, the rewards and challenges of museum work, types of museums, and jobs within museums, including salary ranges. She discusses options for education and training, and offers suggestions on how to secure a job and move up the career ladder. Interviews with museum professionals from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds demonstrate different career paths and offer unique and helpful advice. For novices in the field, students in museum studies programs, or anyone considering museums as a career choice, Schlatter’s book is an essential starting point.By Hugh H. Genoways, Mary Anne Andrei. 2008
With the development of institutions displaying natural science, history, and art in the late 19th century came the debates over…
the role of these museum in society. This anthology collects 50 of the most important writings on museum philosophy dating from this formative period, written by the many of the American and European founders of the field. Genoways and Andrei contextualize these pieces with a series of introductions showing how the museum field developed within the social environment of the era. For those interested in museum history and philosophy or cultural history, this is an essential resource.By Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton, Pilar Luna Erreguerena. 2008
The waters of Latin America and the Caribbean are rich with archaeological sites, including coastal settlements, defensive forts, freshwater sources,…
fishing-related activities, navigational aids, anchorages, harbours, ports, shipbuilding sites, shipwrecks and survivor camps. Tragically, treasure-hunting has had a deep impact on these maritime cultural resources, especially on shipwrecks. In the last 20 years, archaeologists have been fighting the battle against these treasure hunters in an attempt to preserve these resources as a source of cultural heritage, rather than allow them to be viewed solely as a means for financial reward. Case studies written primarily by Latin American and Caribbean archaeologists demonstrate exciting and cutting edge research, conservation, site preservation, and interpretation. As a result, this groundbreaking book documents the emerging research interests of maritime archaeologists in Latin America and the Caribbean.By Steven R Simms. 2008
Written to appeal to professional archaeologists, students, and the interested public alike, this book is a long overdue introduction to…
the ancient peoples of the Great Basin and northern Colorado Plateau. Through detailed syntheses, the reader is drawn into the story of the habitation of the Great Basin from the entry of the first Native Americans through the arrival of Europeans. Ancient Peoples is a major contribution to Great Basin archaeology and anthropology, as well as the general study of foraging societies.By Magdalena Midgley. 2008
The North European megaliths are among the most enduring structures built in prehistory; they are imbued with symbolic meanings which…
embody physical and conceptual ideas about the nature of the world inhabited by the first Northern farmers. The Megaliths of Northern Europe provides a much needed up-to-date synthesis of the material available on these monuments, incorporating the results of recent research in Holland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. This research has brought to light new data on the construction of the megaliths and their role in the cultural landscape, and Magdalena Midgley offers a fascinating interpretation of the symbolism of megalithic tombs within the context of early farming communities. This wealth of new evidence suggests the Northern European megaliths were important foci in the wider north-west European context. The construction of dolmens and passage graves, using huge glacial boulders, demanded both great communal effort and considerable skill. In addition to this technical expertise the master builders also made use of their esoteric knowledge of rituals. This was expressed in the use of exotic building materials and special architectural features, and in the placement of tombs within the natural and cultural landscapes, creating new metaphors and images. Fully illustrated, this book will be of interest to both undergraduate and postgraduate students of European Prehistory, Archaeology and Prehistoric Anthropology, as well as architects who study ancient architecture and social anthropologists who study modern megaliths.By Monique Scott. 2008
Rethinking Evolution in the Museum explores the ways diverse natural history museum audiences imagine their evolutionary heritage. In particular, the…
book considers how the meanings constructed by audiences of museum exhibitions are a product of dynamic interplay between museum iconography and powerful images museum visitors bring with them to the museum. In doing so, the book illustrates how the preconceived images held by museum audiences about anthropology, Africa, and the museum itself strongly impact the human origins exhibition experience. Although museological theory has come increasingly to recognize that museum audiences ‘make meaning’ in exhibitions, or make their own complex interpretations of museum exhibitions, few scholars have explicitly asked how. Rethinking Evolution in the Museum, however, provides a rare window into visitor perceptions at four world-class museums—the Natural History Museum and Horniman Museum in London, the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Through rigorous and novel mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) covering nearly 500 museum visitors, this innovative study shows that audiences of human origins exhibitions interpret evolution exhibitions through a profoundly complex convergence of personal, political, intellectual, emotional and cultural interpretive strategies. This book also reveals that natural history museum visitors often respond to museum exhibitions similarly because they use common cultural tools picked up from globalized popular media circulating outside of the museum. One tool of particular interest is the notion that human evolution has proceeded linearly from a bestial African prehistory to a civilized European present. Despite critical growths in anthropological science and museum displays, the outdated Victorian progress motif lingers persistently in popular media and the popular imagination. Rethinking Evolution in the Museum sheds light on our relationship with natural history museums and will be crucial to those people interested in understanding the connection between the visitor, the museum and media culture outside of the museum context.By Eilean Hooper-Greenhill. 2008
At the beginning of the 21st century museums are challenged on a number of fronts. The prioritisation of learning in…
museums in the context of demands for social justice and cultural democracy combined with cultural policy based on economic rationalism forces museums to review their educational purposes, redesign their pedagogies and account for their performance. The need to theorise learning and culture for a cultural theory of learning is very pressing. If culture acts as a process of signification, a means of producing meaning that shapes worldviews, learning in museums and other cultural organisations is potentially dynamic and profound, producing self-identities. How is this complexity to be ‘measured’? What can this ‘measurement’ reveal about the character of museum-based learning? The calibration of culture is an international phenomenon, and the measurement of the outcomes and impact of learning in museums in England has provided a detailed case study. Three national evaluation studies were carried out between 2003 and 2006 based on the conceptual framework of Generic Learning Outcomes. Using this revealing data Museums and Education reveals the power of museum pedagogy and as it does, questions are raised about traditional museum culture and the potential and challenge for museum futures is suggested.By Nicola Aravecchia. 2019
The fourth volume in the Amheida series, ‘Ain el-Gedida: 2006-2008 Excavations of a Late Antique Site in Egypt's Western Desert…
presents the systematic record and interpretation of the archaeological evidence from the excavations at ‘Ain el-Gedida, a fourth-century rural settlement in Egypt's Dakleh Oasis uniquely important for the study of early Egyptian Christianity and previously known only from written sources. Nicola Aravecchia (Washington University), the Deputy Field Director of NYU's Amheida Excavations, offers a history of the site and its excavations, followed by an integrated topographical and archaeological interpretation of the site and its significance for the history of Christianity in Egypt. In the second half of the volume a team of international experts presents catalogs and interpretations of the archaeological finds, including ceramics (Delphine Dixneuf, CRNS), coins (David M. Ratzan, NYU), ostraca and graffiti (Roger S. Bagnall, NYU and Dorota Dzierzbicka, University of Warsaw), small finds (Dorota Dzierzbicka, University of Warsaw), and zooarcheological remains (Pamela J. Crabtree, NYU and Douglas Campana).This detailed history of explores Rome’s interaction with its Persian neighbour and enemy from the first century BC to the…
third century AD. Peter Edwell takes the innovative approach in treating the area in regional terms, giving more nuanced interpretations than are available in broader treatments of the Roman Near East.Why has it taken so long to make computers work for the museum sector? And why are museums still having…
some of the same conversations about digital technology that they began back in the late 1960s? Does there continue to be a basic ‘incompatibility’ between the practice of the museum and the functions of the computer that explains this disconnect? Drawing upon an impressive range of professional and theoretical sources, this book offers one of the first substantial histories of museum computing. Its ambitious narrative attempts to explain a series of essential tensions between curatorship and the digital realm. Ultimately, it reveals how through the emergence of standards, increased coordination, and celebration (rather than fearing) of the ‘virtual’, the sector has experienced a broadening of participation, a widening of creative horizons and, ultimately, has helped to define a new cultural role for museums. Having confronted and understood its past, what emerges is a museum transformed – rescripted, re calibrated, rewritten, reorganised.By Douglas C McVarish. 2008
This comprehensive guide provides the reader with basic information of the most common types of structures, sites, and objects encountered…
in industrial archaeology. These include bridges, railroads, roads, waterways, several types of production and extraction factories, water and power generating facilities, and others. Each chapters contains a brief introduction to the technology or features of each class of installation, illustrations with characteristics that help identifying important elements of the type, and a glossary of common terms. Two chapters offer valuable guidance on researching industrial properties and landscapes. For students, avocational archaeologists, and cultural resource management surveys, this volume will be an essential reference.By Jennie R. Ebeling, Yorke M. Rowan. 2008
Ground stone artefacts were widely used in food production in prehistory. However, the archaeological community has widely neglected the dataset…
of ground stone artefacts until now. 'New Approaches to Old Stones' offers a theoretical and methodological analysis of the archaeological data pertaining to ground stone tools. The essays draw on a range of case studies - from the Levant, Egypt, Crete, Anatolia, Mexico and North America - to examine ground stone technologies. From medieval Islamic stone cooking vessels and late Minoan stone vases, to the use of stone in ritual and as a symbol of luxury, 'New Approaches to Old Stones' offers a radical reassessment of the impact of ground-stone artefacts on technological change, production and exchange.By David S. Whitley, Kelley Hays-Gilpin. 2008
Human actions are often deeply intertwined with religion and can be understood in a strictly religious context. Yet, many volumes…
and articles pertaining to discussions of religion in the archaeological past have focused primarily on the sociopolitical implications of such remains. The authors in this volume argue that while these interpretations certainly have a meaningful place in understanding the human past, they provide only part of the picture. Because strictly religious contexts have often been ignored, this has resulted in an incomplete assessment of religious behavior in the past. This volume considers exciting new directions for considering an archaeology of religion, offering examples from theory, tangible archaeological remains, and ethnography.