The Sratty Archaeologist: archaeology

The Museum of the City of New York

Perks of being a museum professions student? Field trips to new museums I've never been to. I'm very lucky to say that I live in a close proximity to New York City and have had the opportunity to visit a lot of museums. Even outside NYC, I love finding new places with a historical flare.
I was thrilled to find out I'd be visiting the Museum of the City of New York, a place I'd never gotten a chance to visit before. Founded in 1923, the museum's mission is to connect the public with the past, present, and future of New York City.
First off, the day we visited was absolutely beautiful. It was a solid 70 degrees and sunny in Manhatten. I went in a little early got myself lunch on the Upper East Side and channeled my inner Blair Waldorf as I made my way up to the Museum along 5th Avenue.
The museum is located right along the park on the Museum Mile. Although it seems like the building was at one time a luxurious townhouse of a gilded age socialite, the building was actually constructed to be a museum. It fits the aesthetic of the Upper East Side perfectly. I was particularly attracted to the white marble and brick combination. A few of us waited on the patio of the museum for our professor enjoying the sunshine.
The inside of the museum is all about contrast, which I love. The gorgeous historical interiors in all of its white marble glory contrasted with the modern art installment called Starlight. The three exhibition spaces off the main lobby were all very dark spaces as well.
My favorite exhibit was called New York at its Core. In this exhibition, the 400-year history of the city is documented through artifacts and the stories of the city's "big personalities" who helped shape the Big Apple. The use of technology was awesome in this exhibit. One particularly cool feature was a large touchscreen wall. As the silhouettes of these characters walked across the wall, visitors could touch the screen and learn more about the stories of these people and how they impacted New York City. Notable figures included Jay-Z, Dutch Schultz, and Gloria Steinem.
While the New York at its Core exhibition was very sleek and modern, my other favorite exhibition was a throwback to the how the original museum looked. The Gilded Age was exhibited as a period room, showing the luxurious life of the upper class during the early 1900s. Included in this small but sumptuous gallery were portraits, Tiffany glass, jewelry, opera glasses, and costumes. The room was wallpapered in purple damask and chandeliers hung in the small area. This was such a contrast to everything else in the museum, it made the exhibition really stand out.
Another perk of being a museum studies student? Behind the scenes tours. Since I was with my Archives Management class, we got a chance to speak with an archivist and take a tour of their archives as well as see what kinds of things they collect. Getting a chance to talk to current museum professionals is such a valuable experience.
The museum is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm. Check out their website. If you're in New York City, I'd highly recommend this museum.

0Comments

, by Unknown

Let's Talk Palmyra

Palmyra, jewel of the Syrian desert, home of archaeological wonder, victim of terrorism, and subject of my senior capstone project. Let's just say I love this site and am terrified of what may happen to it if violence continues in Syria.

So let's go into the background on this site shall we, courtesy of my capstone paper:
Palmyra is located in the center of the Syrian desert, approximately half way between the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates river. This pivotal location made the desert oasis a key caravan stop on the silk road for nearly 4,000 years. The name Palmyra derives from the Latin word for “palms”. Palmyra has been occupied since the Neolithic era, however there is very little archaeological evidence that provides any information about the people who lived at the site. During the Bronze age, there are mentions of Palmyra as “Tadmor” in a variety of records. The earliest dates to the 19th century BCE from Cappadocia. Tadmor is also referenced in the Mari archives as well as the 11th century BCE annals of Tigleth Pileser. Palmyra reached the height of its power during the Roman Era. As a Roman Province, Palmyra functioned independently. As an important part of the Silk Road, Palmyra had exotic goods streaming in from Persia, Arabia, and India . During this period, a Roman garrison was established in Palmyra. There are records of the soldiers trained at Palmyra being stationed in the farthest points of the empire, including Egypt and Britain. Rome continued to control Palmyra until the Byzantine Era. Christianity spread during this period and the temple of Bel and Baalshamin were converted into Christian churches. The Ottoman Empire’s rise marked the final, swift decline for Palmyra. The converted temples were converted to mosques for the Arab population and served as a place of worship up until excavations began in 1929. In 1401 CE, the once great city of Palmyra was again a small village, at the mercy of nomadic tribes which surrounded it .

Artifacts from the Tower Tombs at Palmyra, British Museum,London

Palmyra was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 and was a popular tourist destination. The Polish Excavations continued until 2011 when all excavations seized at the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. In 2013 UNESCO placed Palmyra on the Watch List for sites in danger of destruction. In May 2015, ISIS invaded Palmyra and maintains control of the town. The terrorist organization has used the ruins of Palmyra as the backdrop for numerous atrocities such as the mass executions of prisoners of war. In August, 2015 ISIS murdered the 82-year-old retired director of antiquities Khaled Al-Assad for refusing to divulge where many of the antiquities had been sent to for safe keeping. ISIS is an iconoclast organization. They destroy ancient sites and artifacts because they believe that the images are blasphemous. This campaign of iconoclasm reached Palmyra in August, 2015. The Temple of Bel, Baalshamin, and the Tower Tombs were destroyed. Although for the near future, archaeologists will be unable to excavate Palmyra, the destruction of the site has begun a campaign to save other sites like Palmyra from destruction. One of these campaigns is the Million Image Project sponsored by The Institute for Digital Archaeology and Oxford University. Their plan is to send 5,000 easy to use cameras into areas of conflict. These cameras are connected to satellites and from these images, archaeologists can create 3-D reconstructions of these sites for future study even if they are destroyed.

Ok, enough with the history. So what's going on with Palmyra today? In March 2016, the village was retaken by Syrian and Russian armed forces and an extensive survey was taken to assess the damage ISIS had inflicted upon the archaeological site. While some of the archaeological features remained, nothing but rubble was left of the temple of Bel, Baalshamin, and other parts of the site. Here's where some cool technology comes in. The Institute for Digital Archaeology began work to create a full scale reproduction of the site's Triumphal Arch. The Arch was first displayed in Trafalgar Square in London and last week it came to the Big Apple.

The arch is created from Egyptian marble and was created in Italy using 3-D imaging and scans. People were free to touch the arch, walk through it, take pictures, etc. This was the first full scale reproduction and the Institute for Digital Archaeology has made plans to help do on site reproductions at the site of Palmyra in the future, rebuilding what ISIS has destroyed.

I was beyond thrilled I got the chance to see the arch. I almost cried no joke. To me it represents how technology can preserve cultural heritage for the future. When an archaeological site is destroyed, a piece of everyone's history is destroyed. It doesn't matter if you're Syrian, American, Chinese, or French. We are all humans and history is the story of us, how we came to be. Sites like Palmyra preserved part of an ancient way of life and through modern technology we can return Palmyra to its glory, allowing future generations to learn about archaeology, history, and culture.

0Comments

, by Unknown

In archaeology, field school

Week 1: An Overview

Well this field school can be summed up in one word, incredible! We arrived to the Folk High School a week ago today and it was kind of rainy and cold until Tuesday, our official fist day digging. Each morning we all roll out of bed at 7am ( more like 7:20 to be honest) and get to breakfast at 7:30. We have a hearty breakfast of hard boiled eggs, ham, Jarlsberg cheese, fruit, and tea. Occasionally they have seedless bread which I can eat so I lather it up with butter and ligonberries. Words cannot actually describe how good the butter is here, it's so rich and flavorful all other butters will be sub par in comparison.

The bus picks us up around 8:30 to head to the site. It's a 40 minute drive up the coastline to an old viking harbor site. From then on we dig, dig, dig until 4pm. During the work day we have two fikas, or coffee breaks which we all look forward to and we have a lunch break at roughly 12pm. We get to pack our own lunch boxes with food provided by the school. Our very first day in the field we had some delicious smoked salmon, hardly your typical sandwiches and cold cuts kind of deal. We've found some pretty cool stuff while sifting through our square and I can't wait to get down to layer 2 and see what more there is to dig up!

When we get back to Hemse, everyone's hungry for dinner and believe me the food never fails to satisfy. We've had potato leek soup, fresh baked bread, pastas in yummy cream sauces, the list goes on. I haven't had any trouble with allergies as well so that makes me very happy. Julie has also been really happy with the service, the set aside food for her that's both vegetarian and lactose free yet still very hearty.
During the evenings people bike around town, hang out around the fire pit, or just enjoy each others company. This group is full of great, passionate people who have been amazing to get to know. We work very well together in the field and out.

On Saturday we had a bus tour around historic Gotland which concluded with a trip to Tofta beach. The water was a wee bit chilly when we first got in but it gradually warmed up. I'm thankful that today I got to sleep in this morning after a very tiring week but tomorrow I'll be back on that grind!