Anth 240 Midterm

Mouseion

Seat of the Muses, a designated philosophical institution or a place of contemplation

The word Museum

15th century, described the collection of Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence

Preservation and interpretation

Form the basis of museums, the human propensity to acquire and

inquire

Royal collections

Found in Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Bavaria, Germany, Poland, France, England, Italy, Sweden, China

Specialized personal collections

The developing interest in human as well as natural history in the 16th century led to the creation of specialized collections

Cabinet of curiosities

Kunstkammer = collection of art, Rustkammer = collection of historical armor, Wunderkammer/Naturalienkabinett = collection of natural specimens, galleria/gallery = collection of paintings and sculptures that were exhibited

Learned Societies

Established to promote corporate discussion, experimentation, and collecting. Was the beginning of a movement that, through the collections formed and the promotion of their subjects, contributed much to the formation of museums in the modern meaning of the term

Renaissance collections

symbols of social prestige, an important element in the traditions of the nobility, but over time, a developing spirit of inquiry brought to collecting a different meaning and purpose as well as a much wider group of practitioners

First public Museum

Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford University, opened in 1683

Museum

an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value, also a place where objects are exhibited

Procurement = collect

to gather together, assemble, to accumulate, make a collection of

Preserve = care

Feel concern or interest; attach importance to something, look after and provide for the needs of, maintain (something) in its original or existing state

Study = research

the devotion of time and attention to acquiring knowledge on an academic subject, especially by means of books, a detailed investigation and analysis of a subject or situation, look at closely in order to observe or read

Display = share

Make a prominent exhibition of (something) in a place where it can be easily seen, tell someone about (something).

Objects of permanent value

A material thing that can be seen and touched, existing or intended to exist for an indefinite period, in the regard that it is held to deserve the importance, worth or usefulness

Scientific specimens

A specimen is a single plant or animal, which is an example of a particular species or type and is examined by scientists

Artifact

An object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest

Art collection

An accumulation of works of art by a private individual or a public institution. Art collecting has a long history, and most of the world’s art museums grew out of great private collections formed by royalty, the aristocracy, or the wealthy

World’s first museum?

Located in the state of Ur, modern-day Dhi Qar, Iraq, curated by Princess Ennigaldi

Earlier sites of collection and display

The public squares of ancient Rome (where statuary and war booty were exhibited)

Medieval church treasuries (for sacred and valuable objects)

Traditional Japanese shrines where small paintings (traditionally of horses) were hung to draw good favor.

Natural History Museums

A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more

Taxonomy

Study of scientific classification, first father was the philosopher Aristotle

History of Archaeology

150 years old, beginnings in the Mediterranean Bronze age

Pot hunting

Most of the early “excavations” were either religious crusades or treasure hunting by and for elite rulers

Looting

Archaeological looting is the illicit removal of artifacts from an archaeological site.

Private collecting & Archaeology

Heye Foundation; George Heye purchased a navajo hide shirt in 1897 - sparked an interest in collecting, by 1916 had over 58,000

Ralph Glidden, funded by Heye

King Tut found by an amateur archaeologist

NAGPRA

Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act

The return of Native American remains to their original tribes

Any federally recognized tribe (non-federally recognized tribes cannot reclaim land/objects or get federal funding, 582 recognized but 4-5,000 tribes)

Native American Consultation

Museums invite tribes to look at their collections, and consult on their display and care

Science Museums

A museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc.

Industrial Revolution

The process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. This process began in Britain in the 18th century (1760 – 1830) and from there spread to other parts of the world.

World Expositions & World’s Fair

Started in 1798, meant to be a show and tell of all the latest scientific advancements

Museums developed from world’s fair

Field museum, Chicago, Balboa Park, San Diego, St. Louis Museum of Art, New York hall of science

Architectural remnants of the World’s fairs

Eiffel tower

Palace of fine arts, San Francisco

Balboa park, San Francisco

Space Needle, Seattle

Modern Science Museums

The modern interactive science museum was pioneered by Munich’s Deutsches Museum in the early 20th century. The museum was founded on28 June 1903, at a meeting of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) as an initiative of Oskar von Miller.

Edutainment

Edutainment is a growing paradigm within the science center and children's museum community in the United States, as well as in many other locations such as the zoo or a botanical garden.

Educational locations such as these are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to reach the surrounding public and get them interested in area such as the fine arts, science, literature, and history.

Cultural Heritage

Often expressed as either Intangible or Tangible Cultural Heritage

Tangible Cultural Heritage

As part of human activity Cultural Heritage produces tangible representations of the value systems, beliefs, traditions and lifestyles.

As an essential part of culture as a whole, Cultural Heritage, contains these visible and tangible traces form antiquity to the recent past

Intangible Cultural Heritage

Intangible heritage includes voices, values, traditions, oral history. Popularly this is perceived through cuisine, clothing, forms of shelter, traditional skills and technologies, religious ceremonies, performing arts, storytelling

Cultural Heritage Site

There are three types of sites: cultural, natural, and mixed. Cultural heritage sites include hundreds of historic buildings and town sites, important archaeological sites, and works of monumental sculpture or painting

Risk Factors

War, looting, climate change, urbanization, and natural disasters are a persistent threat to World Heritage sites around the globe. Sites subject to unusual levels of pollution, mass tourism, natural hazards, or other problems may be placed on the associated List of World Heritage in danger until improvements are made.

History Museums

Today, history museums collect and preserve objects of the past and use them to convey historical perspective and inspiration as well as a sense of what it was like to live in other ages

Historical Societies

As true disciples of the enlightenment, they had unlimited faith in the power of knowledge and reason. They also were determined to preserve the story of their defeat of the powerful British Empire and to point out the factors that cause America to flower

Historic House Museums

A house that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. The idea of a historic house museum derives from Social History (history that is solely based on people and their way of living

Folk Museums/Living History Museums

The drive to see and to understand cultures and forms from faraway places is persistent beyond the fairs. In the latter part of the 19th century, Sweden was the first to build one

Sites of Conscience

There are some organizations, institutions, and sites that expand the definition of history museums and, in this way, may serve as predictors for the museums of the future: sites of conscience and memorial museums

Botanical Gardens and Zoos

Fit into the definition of museum adopted by the American Alliance of Museums. They are organized, permanent, and nonprofit in form; essentially educational or aesthetic in purpose; have professional staff; and own, utilize, and conserve tangible objects that they exhibit to the public on some regular schedule

Physic Gardens

These medicinal gardens spread to universities and apothecaries throughout central Europe such as Cologne, Prague, and Copenhagen

Colonial Gardens

The age of exploration and the beginnings of international trade sparked the colonial gardens. Gardens such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid were set up to try and cultivate new species that were being brought back from expeditions to the tropics.

Linnaean Gardens

Based upon the taxonomy established by Carl Linnaeus as set forth in his Systema Naturae and subsequent works. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus there are three kingdoms, divided into classes, and they, in turn, into orders, families, genera, and species

Civic Gardens

During the 19th and 20th century municipal and civic gardens were created throughout Europe and the British Commonwealth. Nearly all of these gardens were mainly pleasure gardens with very few of them having any scientific programs

The first Zoo

The earliest collection of animals, though not a public zoo, was established by Shulgi, ruler of Ur (now Southeast Iraq), around 2400 B.C.

Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt collected animals from all parts of Africa and established the first real zoo in 1500 B.C

Menagerie

The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to aristocratic or royal animal collections.

Shift from Menageries to Zoos

The Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment brought a new perspective and purpose to the menageries. This is when the term “zoo” started: it came from the longer scientific terminology “zoological garden.” The first zoos began in the late 18th century