This Handbook provides a transnational reference point for critical engagements with the legacies of, and futures for, global archaeological collections. It challenges the common misconception that museum archaeology is simply a set of procedures for managing and exhibiting assemblages. Instead, this volume advances museum archaeology as an area of reflexive research and practice addressing the critical issues of what gets prioritized by and researched in museums, by whom, how, and why. Through twenty-eight chapters, authors problematize and suggest new ways of thinking about historic, contemporary, and future relationships between archaeological fieldwork and museums, as well as the array of institutional and cultural paradigms through which archaeological enquiries are mediated. Case studies embrace not just archaeological finds, but also archival field notes, photographic media, archaeological samples, and replicas. Throughout, museum activities are put into dialogue with other aspects of archaeological practice, with the aim of situating museum work within a more holistic archaeology that does not privilege excavation or field survey above other aspects of disciplinary engagement. These concerns will be grounded in the realities of museums internationally, including Latin America, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. In so doing, the common heritage sector refrain 'best practice' is not assumed to solely emanate from developed countries or European philosophies, but instead is considered as emerging from and accommodated within local concerns and diverse museum cultures.
Alice Stevenson: Introduction: Museum Archaeology A. Collecting, Categorizing, and Challenging Histories 1: Géraldine Delley and Nathan Schlanger: Recovering the History of Archaeology in Museums 2: Cressida Fforde, Jilda Andrews, Edward Halealoha Ayau, Madalyn Grant, Laurajane Smith, and Paul Turnbull: Emotion, Affective Practice, and the Taking of Indigenous Ancestral Remains 3: Cressida Fforde, Jilda Andrews, Edward Halealoha Ayau, Laurajane Smith, and Paul Turnbull: Emotion and the Return of Ancestors: Repatriation as Affective Practice B. Contemporary Agencies of Curation and Communities of Practice 4: Donna Yates and Emiline Smith: Museums and the Market: Passive Facilitation of the Illicit Trade in Antiquities 5: Marcia Bezerra and Luzia Gomes Ferreira: Affective Museums: The practice of Collecting Archaeological Artefacts in the Brazilian Amazon 6: Laura Osorio Sunnucks: De-centring Museums in Indigenous Community Engagement: Contemporary Maya Art, Thought, and Archaeological collections 7: Abigail Hunt and Tom Kitchen: Enabled Archaeology in the Field, in Museums, and the Visitor Experience 8: Jessica S. Johnson and Brian Michael Lione: Conservation after Conflict: Rebuilding A Heritage Community in Iraq C. Locating Museums and Collections 9: Georgios Papaioannou: Site Museums and Archaeology 10: Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann: Contested Heritage and Absent Objects: Archaeological Representation at Ghana's Forts and Castles 11: S. Terry Childs: Finding Space to Store Archaeological Collections: Challenges and Progress in the United States 12: George Okello Abungu: Victims or Victors: Universal Museums and the Debate on Return and Restitution, Africa's Perspective D. Alternative Materialities: Beyond Finds 13: Gail Boyle: Unlocking the Potential of Archaeological Archives 14: Jennifer Reynolds-Kaye: Museum Replicas: Recovering the Work of Making Plaster Casts of Pre-Columbian Art 15: Stephanie Klamm: Photographic Practices in Museum Archaeology 16: John Kannenberg: Listening to Archaeology Museums E. Fieldwork in the Museum 17: Simon Holdaway, Josh Emmitt, and Rebecca Phillipps: Recreating Context for Museum Collections Using Digital Technologies as a Form of Curation 18: James L. Flexner: Ethnographic Collections and Archaeological Analysis 19: Patrick Sean Quinn: Scientific Investigation of Museum Objects: Planning, Analysis, and Wider Impact 20: Barbara Wills: Conservation and the Care of Human Remains in Museums F. Exhibitionary Cultures 21: Siyu Wang and Kan Hang: Museums and Archaeological Exhibitions: History, Institution and Reality in China 22: Paul Collins: Telling stories at the Ashmolean Museum: An Ancient Middle East gallery for the Twenty-First Century? 23: Karen Exell: The Archaeology of Qatar Gallery at the National Museum of Qatar 24: Duygu Tarkan and Syda Çetin: Representing Field Practices in Display: The Curious Case of Çatalhöyük 25: Gertrude A. M. Eyifa-Dzidzienyo: Archaeology Displays in Universities: The Role of Museums and Archaeology Displays in Ghana G. Expanding and Transcending the Museum: Social Justice and Digital Frontiers 26: Paolo Del Vesco: Engaging Contemporary Social Issues in the Museum Through Archaeological Collections 27: Daniel Pett: Transcending and Expanding the Walls of the Museum: Digital Pivot, Digital by Default, Digital Transformation 28: Ville Rohiola and Jutta Kuitunen: Cooperative Platforms for Curating and Managing Digitally Recorded Finds Data: Metal-detecting and FindSampo in Finland
Alice Stevenson is an Associate Professor of Museum Studies at UCL Institute of Archaeology. She has previously held positions as Curator of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology in London and Researcher in World Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. Her specialist area of expertise is Egyptian archaeology collections and she has led the major research projects 'Artefacts of Excavation' and 'Egypt's Dispersed Heritage'.
