Two Students' Adventures in to Museum Land

Our day started back at King's Manor, the base for the Archaeology Department for the University of York. Here we refined the pitches for our films after a thorough storyboarding session yesterday. After an official pitch of our ideas to the Curator of Archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum, Natalie McCaul, we were given some very helpful feedback and she brought some new ideas to the table. We are now confident that we can progess with the filming towards the end of the week.

Me and my partner Olivia hard at work

At the Yorkshire Museum we had previously been set the task to put together an exhibition cabinet in pairs, to be displayed in the learning zone. My group was given a mysterious brown box to open, the contents of which were unknown. We quickly tore open the box, eager to unveil what we had to work with. Within the box, rested four brown Bronze Age pots, with which we had create an engaging and informative display. In the beginning of this process we felt nervous about the forthcoming goal but we were also determined and enthused by the possibilities presented to us by the other exhibitions at the Yorkshire Museum. At first we did not know what to do with the artefacts or what exactly they were. This helped us with our creative process as we could approach the curating experience with the same perspective as a member of the public might view the display. With help from Natalie, we were given some context surrounding the artefacts and we learnt that they were found on the Yorkshire Moors. Through the further use of an early Twentieth Century book by the archaeologist Frank Elgee entitled; 'Early Man in North East Yorkshire' we were able to identify the different stylistic groups that the pots belonged to. The two larger artefacts, we identified as Beakers, while the other two rather smaller pots we discovered were called 'pygmy cups'.

How we displayed the 'pygmy cups' and Frank Elgee's book

Today we finished arranging our artefacts and wrote labels. We started by playing around with the layout and location of the artefacts within the cabinet. We have aimed to achieve an aesthetically pleasing display which involved a multi-layered effect to emphasise the variation in the artefacts. We also included the afore mentioned book by Frank Elgee in order to contextualise the artefacts, spread open at a page which has a description and illustrations of 'Beakers'. We set this to the side of the cabinet so that a viewer could relate the artefact to the information in the book. We found it quite difficult to write the labels for the display due to a limiting word count of 40 words. We felt we needed to make the labels engaging to visitors without scaring them away with jargon. We were pleased with the overall vibe that we achieved with the display. After a peer assessment of each other's displays we gathered some constructive criticism such as how the pygmy cups, being at the back of the display behind the book could be lost as the visitors eye could be drawn by the bigger, more decorated beakers at the forefront of the display. We found our first curatorial experience extremely satisfying as it is the first time we have been able to creatively engage with artefacts.

Our end result

                               

Curation, Curation, Curation...

Story board planning used in the pitch.

Hello again all. This week began for us Heritage students with the pitching of our video ideas to Yorkshire Museum Curator of Archaeology Natalie McCaul, and also prior to that, a pitch at the Kings Manor (our base) to John Schofield the Head of the Department of Archaeology. They both gave us some constructive feedback on our plans and possible leads to follow up on for enhancing our videos.

With the pitches done our day was then focused on finishing curating the display cabinets that we had began to produce on Thursday the week before. For me this involved working in a group with Adam, a heritage student working within the other heritage video group, to create a mini exhibition of the Star Carr finds that the museum currently possessed. This consisted of an animal bone, a single barbed point, an elk mattock replica and varying flints; we also had Clarke's excavation book. This exercise was used to help give us some first hand experience of curating, and the thought processes involved in doing so.

Picture taken by Sara Perry of the Heritage Field School

As part of creating a Star Carr display cabinet we had to produce some informative labels. We wanted these to include some interesting facts to help the viewer understand the wider context for example the fact that 195 barbed points were found at Star Carr and this makes up 95% of all the known ones from the National Museum. Because we had so little artefacts to work with we used Clarke's book displayed behind de single barbed point, to emphasise just how many were found at the site and to help display the small object in an aesthetically pleasing way. We arranged the flints we were given to demonstrate the process of knapping moving in a circle from cores to microliths at the very edge. 

The next step now will be to prepare for actually going out into the field with our cameras, the gather the footage needed for the videos! 

Our display cabinet of the Star Carr artefacts.

Behind the Scenes at Yorkshire Museum

Our adventure in curation began last Thursday, when the Yorkshire Museum presented us with three boxes of artefacts to display in three cases. We divided into pairs (I paired up with Susan), chose a box, and got to work! Our mission: organize the artefacts in our box for a display in one of the Learning Labs. Sounds simple enough, but it was anything but! The initial part of our curating experiment was quite fun; we unwrapped artefact after artefact after prehistoric artefact. It was like Christmas in May! From the outset, our mission involved making a multitude of decisions:

• What exactly have we got?
• What is good enough or interesting enough for display?
• Are there themes or natural groupings in our set of artefacts?
• How might we unite the artefacts in a coherent story?
• Can we give these artefacts contemporary relevance?

Photograph taken by Sara Perry. Posted on the blog "The Archaeological Eye", 

blog post "Heritage Field School at York", 4th May 2013. Found at:

http://saraperry.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/heritagefieldschool2013/.

Let's break this down:

What had we got? - What we had was a collection of Paleolithic and Neolithic flints and stone tools (with one random Mesolithic arrowhead thrown in for good measure). This covers about 400,000 years' worth of history - in one small collection! Could we possibly display all of this and still make our display look attractive and logically organized?

What is good enough or interesting enough for display? - We had a massive mattock in good condition; this we immediately set aside for display. The Paleolithic flints and core were a lovely orange-brown colour, and they illustrated the shape and process of flint-knapping. These we also chose to include, both for their educational potential and to liven up the grey-brown colour of everything else. They also looked stereotypically "Stone Age" - hey, we've got to have a hook! We liked the polished nature of our (relatively) large collection of celts - Neolithic stone axes, named celts by the Victorians - but there were so many that we were worried about how to include them without cluttering our display. There was also a large bag of flints, but they just didn't look interesting enough to justify their inclusion in our exhibit.

Our flint (and part of our celt) collection. Photograph by us.

Are there themes or natural groupings in our set of artefacts? - we both quickly noticed that all of our artefacts were tools, so we settled on a "toolbox" theme for our display. We further categorized our artefacts by type (hammer, flint, celt, etc.), origin (area of Britain or off the island), and time period (Paleolithic, one artefact of Mesolithic, and Neolithic). We scrapped the Mesolithic artefact early on; it just didn't fit, so it was sadly relegated to the storage box once more. Now, which of these groupings best fit our display? Could we use more than one?

How might we unite the artefacts in a coherent story? - Taking the artefacts chronologically was the obvious approach, allowing us to demonstrate how technology and function changed over time. Paleolithic tools had general functions; Neolithic tools were much more specialized. By forming an expansive timeline of artefacts, illustrated with pictures, films, mock-ups, experts standing by at all hours, etc., we could trace changes in lifestyle from hunter-gathering communities to farming communities. It was going to be the best and most informative display ever created - but we simply didn't have the time to bring this glorious vision into reality. Sorry about that! We had to settle for a basic divide between Paleolithic and Neolithic artefacts, organized by general type, with a radial display of celts forming the centerpiece between the two end elevations. But we think we did catch the sense of change and development and convey this to our viewers.

Our Neolithic tools - including the ancient predecessor
of Susan's mattock! Photograph by us.

Can we give these artefacts contemporary relevance? - OF COURSE! That's what heritage is all about! We focused our labels on describing the artefacts' past uses and connecting them to modern-day tools. For example, the mattock is a tool still in use today (Susan has one in her shed. Not a Neolithic one, though!). Because the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages are so far in the distant past, and they seem so removed from our experience, we knew we had to draw upon whatever connections we could make to allow our viewers to empathize with the artefacts in the case before them. We had to make these old stone tools come alive in the 21st century.

Our completed display! Photograph by us.

Now it's Tuesday. We've set up our display, we've poured a great deal of thought and effort and trying new things and all the creativity we could summon between the two of us. We thought we had a pretty good display. But what did the other two groups think?

• They liked the toolbox theme and the idea of progression of the technology.
• They liked continuation of these artefacts into modern life.
• But we all agreed that the labels were a tad wordy. Well, when you put Susan and me on the same project, what did you expect? What did you learn from reading this blog post we just wrote?

How might you make these celts come alive?
Photograph by us.

All in all, it was a good display, especially since it was our first one! We learned a lot about curation and heritage from this exercise: first of all, curation is a lot harder than it looks; think about that the next time you go to a museum! A curator has to take an artefact from the past, however distant or recent, and bridge the canyon of time to reach out to the viewer's imagination, making the past come alive for them. Our only way of communicating with the viewer was through our organization of the artefacts and our labels. We discovered that it is really difficult to distill the wide world of academic analysis, interpretation, and scientific knowledge into fewer than forty words (preferably fewer) on a display label, and to do so in a way that will make an artefact interesting and memorable. We left with a greater appreciation for museum curation.

Look out world! Two new curators are on their way!

The happy curators! Photograph by Emma Carr.

In the beginning . . .

An artist's reconstruction of Star Carr, which will be featured in an upcoming publication. This reconstruction was inspired by the recent discovery of Britain's oldest house at the site. Drawing created by Dominic Andrews. Source: https://www.york.ac.uk/archaeology/news-and-events/news/internal/departmentalnewsletter/2012-2013/newsletter-20,-2012-13/

Hey, welcome to our blog! We are a group of Heritage Studies students at the University of York, embarking on a brand new heritage field school project. Our task is to create a three minute video documenting the history of the archaeological site of Star Carr. Most excitingly, this video will be used in the new 'After the Ice' exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum, opening at the end of this month. We welcome any constructive feedback on our preliminary plans:


Our initial mind map planning for our film.

Our film starts with a question: how did we go from a Yorkshire man walking his dog to the discovery of what is now a world-renowned Mesolithic site? Through the use of archives we plan to learn more about John Moore, the initial discoverer of the site. An amateur archaeologist, he noticed a piece of flint sticking out of a drainage ditch in a field near Scarborough. From this starting point, our film will trace the various excavations of the site, including the famous Grahame Clark excavations of 1949-1951, and its upcoming spotlight in a major museum exhibition. We will use a modern reconstructive illustration of the Mesolithic landscape of the site to highlight two key finds: Britain's oldest house and a worked wooden platform, the earliest evidence of carpentry in this country. Having informed the viewer of Star Carr's archaeological history, using interviews and archival materials, we will briefly explore the future of the site. Echoing our opening question, we will ask, 'It started with a Yorkshire man walking his dog; where's the end for Star Carr?'




Archival newspaper clipping from The Scarborough Evening News, 1947. It is the earliest record we have found so far which mentions John Moore. Source: The Star Carr digital archive, Scarborough paper archive, img184.jpg

Traditional archaeological films rely heavily on 'talking head' interviews, but we want to create something more engaging, relational, and interesting to the general public without the archaeological jargon. To do this, we plan to focus our film on a hand-drawn timeline linking to images and interviews conveying information. As we encounter our key finds, we will examine their importance in the context of Star Carr and in the greater understanding of British prehistory. To enhance our preparation for this film, we have had fantastic access to experts in the field. We are fortunate to work with Yorkshire Museum professionals Natalie McCaul, the Curator of Archaeology, Martin Fell, the Digital Team Leader, and Gavin Repton, a documentary filmmaker. Yesterday, we met with these professionals to mind map ideas for our film. Natalie took us on a tour of the exhibit logistics, and Gavin gave us his experienced advice on our initial plans. Equally as exciting, we have access to archaeologists who have researched and written on the site: Professor Nicky Milner, Dr. Chantal Conneller, and Becky Knight, among possible others whose knowledge and personal experiences we can mine through interviews. Through Skype, we have received and will receive guidance and advice from filmmakers around the world. We are thrilled to have this opportunity and will make the most of all of our resources moving forward.