CAG on museums: Bede’s World

Part cultural heritage centre, part museum, and part centre for social and cultural activities in the South Tyneside area, Bede’s World offers a full day of exploration, history, and outdoor activities to its visitors. In recent years Bede’s World has been under severe financial stress and is currently in the process of rebranding itself. In the process, the museum is looking at re-interpreting its galleries, learning programmes, and the way the story of Jarrow and its famous monastic scholar the Venerable Bede is told.

Bede was born in AD 673 at a time when the area of Jarrow was a maritime hub and also the only centre of learning north of Rome. Bede translated the Gospel of John into Old English, but was also one of the first people to come around to the idea of a united England and Englishness as a unified identity for people on the island from many different places. This issue continues to be relevant to the politics of the British Isles today, and thoughts on a multicultural British identity seem to reflect the same concerns as people had in the 7^th Century AD. Bede used his faith to broker a relationship between the arts, poetry, and the local community, which deeply relates the idea behind the Bede’s World current community work.

Inside the galleries, sculptures are personalised for the display

The excavations that produced the small collections of Bede’s World were conducted by archaeologist Rosemary Cramp, and include the oldest stained glass window in the world.

Reconstruction of the glass pieces discovered, dated to the 7^th Century AD

The Bede’s World site incorporates a reconstruction of the nearby settlements and the archaeological remains of Monkwearmouth – Jarrow Priory. There are some very kid-friendly farm animals and some re-enactments of jousting matches and local farmers in the reconstructed outdoor settlement area (although I didn’t see this display). 

Cow!

Reconstructed houses based on archaeological findings

Bede’s World also works heavily with community outreach social and artistic programming by giving artists work spaces through a co-operative agreement, and many of these artists participate in community programmes giving local people the opportunity to engage directly with art. Alongside Bede’s growing cultural ties to the local community it hosts HIVE, a community radio station that allows people to get involved in presenting and research on a broad range of heritage topics.

View of the South Tyneside riverbank

Directly across from Bede’s World lie the remains of the 7th Century monastic site of Monkwearmouth – Jarrow Priory.

7th Century archaeology site of Monkwearmouth

Today St. Paul’s Church stands directly next to the remains, and the Anglo-Saxon inspired carvings inside the church mirror the style of images one can see in the galleries of Bede’s World. The church also hosts another reconstruction of the earliest stained glass window in the world.

Inside of St Paul's

Overall, my Bede’s World experience helped me learn a lot about the history of the Northeast, but also gave me a really good background for seeing the kind of work that museums can really do with local communities if everyone is motivated enough. I think that since Bede’s World is working outside of the restrictions of an overarching museum service and is able to carve its own path out for redevelopment and renewal, it is getting the opportunity to redefine the kinds of relationships and activities that local museums should be working towards. A big thank you to Museum Director Mike Benson for a wonderful and exuberant tour of the museum!

Archaeological findings on early New Zealanders and Maori culture

Whanganui River valley

Some very interesting biological archaeology finds have been published from research conducted at the University of Otago, New Zealand. The research looked at the human remains, known as koiwi tangata, of early New Zealanders who traveled to the Malborough region 700 years ago.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130516105700.htm

Mt. Ruapehu, Mt. Ngāuruhoe, Mt. Tongariro

Though the article covers the complexities of carbon ratios, dietary makeup, and isotopes gauged from the remains, aside from the deeper scientific importance, of key interest to me were the archaeological materials found in the graves of three different groups. The evidence suggested that the groups were hunter gatherers who possibly used the burial site at Wairau Bar as a ceremonial place. The burials themselves were very telling about one group in particular, from the position of internment to the grave goods discovered, such as whale bone and moa eggs. It is possible the findings ‘may represent the roots of the tangihanga ritual, in which Maori are buried in their ancestral lands, developing among these first New Zealanders’.

Koriniti marae

The Maori practice of the tangihanga, or tangi, takes place on the marae or family home and acts as the ceremonial remembrance for ancestors who have passed away. The ceremony allows families to gather to remember the deceased and commemorate the dead. During the tangi, photographs are placed around the body and both the visual images of ancestral kin and the body are addressed as if they were living. This embodiment of life within pictures and the objects of importance to the deceased, displays the significance of objects to community memory. These archaeological findings have wider importance to understandings of early Polynesian life both socially and culturally.

Auckland, New Zealand

10 year anniversary of Iraq invasion and cultural heritage preservation

Today 19 March 2013, marks the 10-year anniversary of the US/UK led invasion of Iraq. The physical and mental scars of the Iraqi people and the damage to their country are of course the most significant effects of this long-term occupation.

Iraq has a very ancient history and is known culturally as the ‘cradle of civilization’. In 2003 the National Museum of Iraq was looted, as well as many other archaeological sites in the days following the invasion. Of course there were many other resources that needed to be protected, such as hospitals and securing intelligence sites. While the looting of the museum was widely publicized, the looting of archaeological sites continues. Unlike the artifacts taken from the National Museum, the archaeological cultural heritage that is being lost cannot be accounted for.

Cultural heritage is under protection by the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, or the Hague Convention. While cultural heritage is often destroyed in conflicts as a result of fighting, it is also targeted to achieve political goals and to affect the cultural and physical memory of communities through the destruction of significant monuments and sites.

The illicit trade in Iraqi antiquities is continuing and has been brushed away with time as a minor issue. During this ten year anniversary, many reflections on the state of war must come to light, and preserving Iraqi heritage is certainly an important issue for the eventual recovery from this war.

CAG on travel: Easter Island and archaeology adventures

Ten years ago my interest in the Pacific began unexpectedly. I had the chance to go on an archaeology excavation with a group from the University of Hawai’i Prehistory Project on Easter Island. I originally went as an archaeologist who had only done South American archaeology, and had no real knowledge about Pacific cultures. I just wanted to explore something as far away as possible!

Ahu Ahanga

My first impressions of Easter Island were that it was so geographically different than I had expected. I was thinking it would be more tropical like Hawai’i, but in reality it was a much more sparse landscape with a much cooler climate. It was still one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen.

View from Poike volcano

A typical day of excavating and mapping

As an archaeologist you tend to wake up before dawn so that you can hike out to a site for work, and by mid-afternoon you’ve already put in your eight hour day. This left plenty of time after the excavations to explore the main town of Hanga Roa, and the (limited) nightlife.

Cultural show (that we attended about four times)

At that time ten years ago, this mainly consisted of three bars- only one of which tourists frequented. Although archaeologists are known for their partying (sorta), and after a month I think most of us were bored of this and used most of our energy to explore the other wonders of the island. 

View from the cave 

Tangata manu (birdman) cave paintings in 'Cannibal Cave'

Finding the tangata manu (birdman) cave paintings in the ‘Cannibal Cave’ and exploring the stories of the island are what first sparked my interests in the cultural history of the Easter Island people, and shifted my interests more towards anthropology. There were so many questions I had for the descendants of these populations, and it didn’t hurt that the Pacific is absolutely gorgeous. 

Downtime at Anakena Beach

Ahu Tongariki from afar