Every object in a museum can tell many stories. The story of how it looks. The story of what it was used for. The story of how it was made. But very often museums may overlook the need to tell the crucial story of how an object was collected – a story that is fundamental to how an object ended up in a museum. On the top floor of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology I discovered a case full of objects with just such a story; one that I found particularly inspiring.
The Clarke Hall, on the top floor of the building, presents the museum’s international archaeological collections. A panel as you enter the gallery proclaims it a ‘work in progress’ with the displays being part of a collaborative project with visitors in order to further develop them in the future. Having studied an undergraduate degree in Archaeology and Geography I was curious about the objects in the ‘open storage’ cases with row upon row laid out for comparison. However, the case that particularly stands out in my memory of that initial visit is the one dedicated to the archaeologist, Dorothy Garrod.
The case contains a number of prehistoric objects from the excavations she oversaw, as well as a selection of cigarette tins that were used as find containers as they were readily to hand. Elsewhere in the gallery there are cases and panels detailing the influence of other eminent archaeologists on the collections and the profession as a whole, but it was the feminist story of Dorothy Garrod that stood out to me.
You can find much more detail about Garrod’s career online, but I shall quote from the case label for a summary:
Dorothy Garrod worked with a field crew, largely of women, recruited from the Palestinian villages. At home in Cambridge, her work was recognized by her election to the Disney Chair of Archaeology in 1939 – the University’s first woman professor. Small and shy, she was a feminine anomaly in a man’s world. Today she is recognised as a feminist pioneer within a university now better balanced between women and men.
When we give objects labels that describe their materials, their origin, their function and their age we often resort to trying to tell the ‘original’ story, the narrative that we think the object was created to be part of. But objects don’t stop existing when they are lost and found, sold and bought, excavated and collected and these processes add to the stories connected to the object. I found it refreshing to view prehistoric objects being used to tell a story of advancement towards gender equality that is under a century old, one that more people could perhaps relate to, alongside the usual information on its type, origin and age. I was inspired and reassured by Garrod’s story and I believe this case has incredible potential to demonstrate that Archaeology is a profession where you can succeed regardless of gender.
As you leave The Clarke Hall, there are questionnaires asking for your feedback on the gallery contents and what archaeology means to you. I am full of praise for the attempts to show the influence of archaeologists over archaeology, yet I would have loved to be able to search through the collection catalogue whilst in the gallery to uncover some of the hidden tales of the hundreds of objects in ‘open storage’. Being on display is a fantastic start over being hidden in a dark storeroom away from public view, but access to the data held about each object would enable visitors to delve into the invisible aspects and craft stories based on their own curiosity – far more than could ever be told on the walls of this one gallery.
I joined the University of Cambridge Museums in July on a temporary assignment as a Marketing Assistant for the summer months spending most of my time working with The Polar Museum and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. In October, I will be starting a PhD at the University of Sheffield where I will be looking into how museums can create spaces to encourage curiosity and innovation. Spending time exploring and thinking about the University of Cambridge Museums as part of my role here has inspired several possible trains of thought that I will have to investigate further!
Pippa Gardner, Marketing Assistant, University of Cambridge Museums
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