The Oxford Handbook of Museum Archaeology (Oxford Handbooks)

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. Cover The Oxford Handbook of Museum Archaeology Copyright Contents Contributors Introduction: Museum archaeology A. Collecting, categorizing, and challenging histories 1. Recovering the history of archaeology in museums 2. Emotion, affective practice, and the taking of Indigenous ancestral remains 3. Emotion and the return of ancestors: Repatriation as affective practice B. Contemporary agencies of curation and communities of practice 4. Museums and the market: Passive facilitation of the illicit trade in antiquities 5. Affective museums: The practice of collecting archaeological artefacts in the Brazilian Amazon 6. De-​centring museums in Indigenous community engagement: Contemporary Maya art, thought, and archaeological collections 7. Enabled Archaeology in the field, in museums, and the visitor experience 8. Conservation after conflict: Rebuilding a heritage community in Iraq C. Locating museums and collections 9. Site museums and archaeology 10. Contested heritage and absent objects: Archaeological representation at Ghana’s forts and castles 11. Finding space to store archaeological collections: Challenges and progress in the United States 12. Victims or victors: Universal museums and the debate on return and restitution, Africa’s perspective D. Alternative materialities: Beyond finds 13. Unlocking the potential of archaeological archives 14. Museum replicas: Recovering the work of making plaster casts of pre-​Columbian art 15. Photographic practices in museum archaeology 16. Listening to archaeology museums E. Fieldwork in the museum: Transformative practice 17. Recreating context for museum collections using digital technologies as a form of curation 18. Ethnographic collections and archaeological research 19. Scientific investigation of museum objects: Planning, analysis, and wider impact 20. Conservation and the care of human remains in museums F. Exhibitionary cultures 21. Museums and archaeological exhibitions: History, institution, and reality in China 22. Telling stories at the Ashmolean Museum: An Ancient Middle East gallery for the twenty-​first century? 23. The Archaeology of Qatar Gallery at the National Museum of Qatar 24. Representing field practices in display: The Curious Case of Çatalhöyük 25. Archaeology displays in universities: The role of museums and archaeology displays in Ghana G. Expanding and transcending the museum: Social issues and digital frontiers 26. Engaging contemporary social issues in the museum through archaeological collections 27. Transcending and expanding the walls of the museum: Digital pivot, digital by default, digital transformation 28. Cooperative platforms for curating and managing digitally recorded finds data: Metal-​detecting and FindSampo in Finland Index 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 28 newly commissioned 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, one that does not privilege excavation or field survey above other aspects of disciplinary engagement. These concerns are grounded in the realities of museums internationally, including those in Latin America, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. In so doing, the common heritage sector refrain 'best practice' is not be assumed to solely emanate from developed countries or European philosophies, but will instead be considered as emerging from, and being accommodated within, local concerns and diverse museum cultures