Tsakalos, Antonis Transforming Excavation Finds into Museum Exhibits: Examples from the Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.18688/aa177-2-19
Title Transforming Excavation Finds into Museum Exhibits: Examples from the Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens
Author email antonistsakalos@gmail.com
About author Antonis Tsakalos — Ph. D., curator. Byzantine and Christian Museum, Vas. Sofias 22, 10675 Athens, Greece.
In the section Eastern Christian Art DOI 10.18688/aa177-2-19
Year 2017 Volume 7 Pages 180–189
Type of article RAR Index UDK 726.82 711.57 Index BBK 85.118
Abstract

The life of an artefact starts at the moment of its creation, but its real discovery starts at the time of its archaeological acquisition and of its presentation to the public, usually in a museum exhibition. In every step of this long life, the artefact may acquire different uses and meanings, according to the corresponding historical, social, and ideological context. This paper focuses on several examples of the multi-layered and fascinatingprocedure of transforming the excavation finds into museum exhibits. All case-studies have been selectedfrom the different indoor and outdoor exhibitions of the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens, Greece. In museum gardens, in the area with cypress trees traditional for cemeteries, the visitors can see three EarlyChristian tombs which were transported there by crane from the excavation site of an ancient cemetery. The metal structure used for the safe transportation of one of the tombs has been conserved and is still visible under the transparent ground level around the tomb. In combination with the information on cemeteries and photo sshowing the transportation of the tombs, it is possible for the visitors to fully understand the procedure between the discovery of antiquities and their presentation in a museum. Moreover, a Late Roman grave uncovered in the museum gardens is now presented in situ, accompanied by relevant photos and textual information. In the museum permanent exhibition, two Early Christian tombs are accompanied by explanatory texts and photos of their discovery during excavations, so that the finds/exhibits can be fully understood in their archaeological and historical context. Last but not least, the well-known ‘Mytilene Hoard’, 7th century, is presented inside the set of two showcases facing each other in order to create an enclosed space, as an allusion to the secret concealment of precious objects in the ground. The above mentioned examples from the Byzantine and Christian Museum reveal the curators’ effort to present the archaeological finds in context, by keeping as much information as possible concerning their discovery and their integration in a museum exhibition.
Keywords
Reference Tsakalos, Antonis. Transforming Excavation Finds into Museum Exhibits: Examples from the Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 7. Ed. S. V. Mal’tseva, E. Iu. Staniukovich-Denisova, A. V. Zakharova. — St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Univ. Press, 2017, pp. 180–189. ISSN 2312-2129. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.18688/aa177-2-19
Publication Article language english
Bibliography
  • 1. Bennett T. The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics. London; New York, Routledge Publ., 1995. 278 p.
  • 2. Binford L. R. Data, Relativism and Archaeological Science. Man, New Series, 1987, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 391–404.
  • 3. Carman J. Archaeology and Heritage: An Introduction. London, Continuum Publ., 2002. 227 p.
  • 4. Carver M. Digging for Ideas. Antiquity, 1989, vol. 63, pp. 666–674.
  • 5. Chourmouziadi A. From Finds to Exhibits. Anaskamma, 2010, vol. 4, pp. 109–140 (in Greek).
  • 6. Darvill T. Value Systems in Archaeology. Managing Archaeology. M. Cooper et al. (eds.). London; New York, Routledge Publ., 1995, pp. 40–50.
  • 7. Dudley S. Museum Materialities: Objects, Sense and Feeling. Museum Materialities: Objects, Engagements, Interpretations, S. Dudley (ed.). London; New York, Routledge Publ., 2010, pp. 1–18.
  • 8. Gosden C. What Do Objects Want? Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2005, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 193–211.
  • 9. Greenberg R.; Ferguson B. W.; Nairne S. (eds.). Thinking about Exhibitions. London; New York, Routledge Publ., 1996. 487 p.
  • 10. Hein G. Learning in the Museum. London; New York, Routledge Publ., 1998. 204 p.
  • 11. Hobsbaum E. J.; Ranger T. O. (eds.). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Publ., 1992. 320 p.
  • 12. Hodder I. et al. (eds.). Interpreting Archaeology: Finding Meaning in the Past. London; New York, Routledge Publ., 1995. 275 p.
  • 13. Hodder I. The Archaeological Process: An Introduction. Oxford, Blackwell Publ., 1999. 242 p.
  • 14. Hooper-Greenhill E. Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge. London; New York, Routledge Publ., 1992. 232 p.
  • 15. Joyce R. A. et al. (eds.). The Languages of Archaeology: Dialogue, Narrative and Writing. Oxford, Blackwell Publ., 2002. 176 p.
  • 16. Katsanika-Stefanou E. The Museographical Proposal. Byzantine and Christian Museum, Byzantine Collections, The Permanent Exhibition. D. Konstantios (ed.). Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum Publ., 2010, pp. 29–40.
  • 17. Knappett C. Thinking through Material Culture: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press Publ., 2005. 216 p.
  • 18. Konstantios D. (ed.). The World of the Byzantine Museum. Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum Publ., 2004. 512 p.
  • 19. Konstantios D. (ed.). Byzantine and Christian Museum, Byzantine Collections, The Permanent Exhibition. Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum Publ., 2010. 228 p.
  • 20. Lipe W. Value and Meaning in Cultural Resources. Approaches to the Archaeological Heritage: A Comparative Study of World Cultural Resource Management Systems. H. Cleere (ed.). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Publ., 1984. pp. 1–11.
  • 21. Lowenthal D. The Past is a Foreign Country. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Publ., 1985. 516 p.
  • 22. Marki E. He necropolis tes Thessalonikis stous ysteroromaikous kai palaiochristianikous chronous (The Salonica Necropolis during the Late Roman and Early Christian Period). Athens, TAPA Publ., 2006. 246 p. (in Greek).
  • 23. Mouliou M.; Bounia A. Museum Exhibitions: Interpretational Approach of the Museum Theory and Practice. Archaiologia (Archaeology), 1999, vol. 70, pp. 53–58 (in Greek).
  • 24. Moysidou J. (ed.). Byzantine and Christian Museum, The Permanent Exhibition. Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum Publ., 2010. 96 p.
  • 25. Pallas D. The Christian Vaulted Tombs. Synagoge Meleton Byzantinis Archaiologias: techne — latreia — koinonia (Studies on Byzantine Archaeology: Art— Worship — Society), vol. 1. Athens, Hellenic Ministry of Culture Publ., 1987–1988, pp. 318–336 (in Greek).
  • 26. Parlama L.; Stampolidis N. (eds.). Athens: The City Beneath the City: Antiquities from the Metropolitan Railway Excavations (exhibition catalogue). Athens, Hellenic Ministry of Culture; N. P. Goulandris Foundation-Museum of Cycladic Art Publ., 2000. 416 p.
  • 27. Pearce S. (ed.). Museums, Objects and Collections: A Cultural Study. Leicester; London, Leicester University Press Publ., 1992. 343 p.
  • 28. Pearce S. On Collecting: An Investigation into Collecting in the European Tradition. London; New York, Routledge Publ., 1995. 287 p.
  • 29. Pearce S. Experiencing Material Culture in the Western World. Leicester; London, Leicester University Press Publ., 1997. 274 p.
  • 30. Pearce S. Studying Museums: New Needs and New Approaches. Archaiologia (Archaeology), 1999, vol. 70, pp. 47–49 (in Greek).
  • 31. Pearson M.; Shanks M. Theatre/Archaeology. London; New York, Routledge Publ., 2001. 243 p.
  • 32. Pennas Ch. Early Christian Burials at Philippi. Byzantinische Forschungen, 1995, vol. 21, pp. 215–227.
  • 33. Schaerer M. Museology: The Exhibited Exhibition — A Museological Experiment. Museum Management and Curatorship, 1994, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 215–219.
  • 34. Schaerer M. Museology: The Exhibited Man/Thing Relationship — A New Museological Experiment. Museum Management and Curatorship, 1996, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 9–20.
  • 35. Schiffer M. B. (ed.). Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory. New York, Academic Press Publ., 1982. 539 p.
  • 36. Shanks M.; Hodder I. Processual, Post-Processual and Interpretive Archaeology. Interpreting Archaeology:
  • Finding Meaning in the Past. I. Hodder et al. (eds.). London; New York, Routledge Publ., 1995, pp. 3–29.
  • 37. Thomas J. (ed.). Interpretive Archaeology: A Reader. London, Leicester University Press Publ., 2000. 423 p.
  • 38. Touratsoglou I.; Chalkia E. The Kratigos, Mytilene Treasure. Coins and Valuables of the 7th Century AD. Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum Publ., 2008. 144 p.