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Lecture
Furniture history in Dumfries and Galloway
Stephen Jackson is Senior Curator, Furniture and Woodwork, at National Museums Scotland and the author of Scottish Furniture, 1500-1914. This new book charts the development of furniture making in Scotland and includes several items made in Dumfries and the wider region between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Stephen’s lecture will...Jackson, Stephen
Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish furniture, material culture, and furniture making
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Book
Scottish Furniture: 1500 - 1914
Scotland's furniture evolved against a background of social and cultural change that included religious reformation, civil war, union with England and participation in rapidly expanding commercial empire. The contribution of the country's finest workshops has been overlooked in general histories of British furniture and sever decades of scholarly research is... -
Lecture
Scottish Furniture, 1500-1914
n March 2024, National Museums Scotland will publish Scottish Furniture, 1500-1914, the first comprehensive narrative account of furniture-making in Scotland. The author of this new book, Stephen Jackson, has been Senior Curator, Furniture and Woodwork at NMS for over twenty years. In this lecture he will speak about a range...Jackson, Stephen
furniture, Francis Brodie, woodwork, Scotland, arts movements, William Trotter, workshops, and Scottish Furniture
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Journal article
A Potters' Collection - How Scotland became home to a collection of Portuguese Folk Ceramics
In 2022, Ian and Elizabeth Hird of the Kelso Pottery approached National Museums Scotland (NMS) with an offer to donate a collection of Portuguese pottery figures, acquired during visits to a pottery in the ceramic centre of Caldas da Rainha between the 1960s and 1980s. Half of the group of... -
Podcast
Basics 2: Curation with Ashleigh Whiffin
In part two of Taxonomy Basics, Ashleigh Whiffin of National Museums Scotland brings us into the entomology collection to learn the fundamentals of curayion and preservation, including which pins to use, the importance of collection dataWhiffin, Ashleigh
curation, taxonomy, entomological collections, and entomology
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Lecture
Burning down the house: exploring the phenomenon of Early Neolithic ‘halls’ and their destruction
Honours the achievements of Professor Ian Ralston, Emeritus Abercromby Professor of Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh.Sheridan, J A
halls, Scotland, Early Neolithic buildings, destruction, and Britain and Ireland
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Lecture
Galloway Hoard: Where Did the Silver Come From?
The Galloway Hoard is dominated by silver. Cutting-edge science can now trace sources of silver with greater accuracy than ever before. What might this reveal about Viking trading and raiding? The Viking Age is known for its silver treasures. The Galloway Hoard, buried around AD 900, was discovered by metal-detecting...Maldonado, Adrián ; Kershaw, Jane ; Magnusson, Sally
science and archaeology, burial practices, The Galloway Hoard, Viking Age Scotland, and silver treasures
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Book chapter
Materialising Mary in a museum: Marian objects and authenticity
There are few verified bodily relics pertaining to Mary, and certainly not any resulting from her execution. A fire was burning at the behest of the Elizabethan government even before her head left her body, and her blood-stained clothing was consigned immediately to it. However, over the longer term these...Groundwater, Anna
Scottish History, gender history , Mary Queen of Scots , history of objects and material culture, media and heritage studies , and community memory
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Book chapter
Collecting an exhibiting Marian objects in nineteenth-century Britain
Marian objects were collected, exhibited and written about throughout the nineteenth century and held a fascination for scholars and the public alike. Yet due to their status as highly prized collectibles, very few of these Marian 'relics' were acquired for Scotland's national museum in Edinburgh.1 So who was collecting Mary...Holder, Julie
Scottish History, community memory , Mary Queen of Scots, history of objects and material culture, media and heritage studies, and gender history
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Book chapter
"To no one Nation has been given the Monopoly of Genius" : Multiple Nationalisms at the National Museum of Scotland, a Director’s View
In 1857, George Wilson, Regius Professor of Science and Technology at the University of Edinburgh,laid out a vision for a new museum under his directorship, the Industrial Museum (today the National Museum) of Scotland.Though formed in the context of Britain’s imperial ambitions, the institution Wilson envisaged also seemed to speak...Breward, Christopher
Scotland, culture, philosophy, George Wilson, colonialism , museum vision, imperialism, and national museums
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Interactive resource
List of Extinct Birds in the Holocene
This is a unique list of bird species that have died out during the last 11,700 years of the Holocene, including English and Swedish names as well as references to the formal descriptions of the taxa. The taxonomy and sequence largely follows IOC when applicable, with priority given to the...Asplund, G ; Stervander, Martin ; Jirle, E ; M, Lagerqvist
extinction, bird species, Holocene, bird families, taxonomy, and genera
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Journal article
Rising Tide: Art and Environment in Oceania
In August 2023, Rising Tide: Art and Environment in Oceania opened at the National Museum of Scotland. The exhibition considers how life depends on the ocean and presents various ways in which individuals within Oceania are working to protect it through the medium of artistic practice. From the start, we...Clark, Alison ; Dawson, Jan ; Duffy, Declan
Oceania, artistic practice, re-use, Rising Tide: Art and Environment in Oceania , exhibition, recycle, and sustainability
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Presentation
Rematriating the House of NI-Isjhool memorial pole: from Naional Museums Scotland to the Nisga'a (National) Museum
Giblin, John
rematriation , Nisga Nation Ni’isjoohl Memorial Pole, colonial histories , Hli G̱oothl Wilp-Adoḵshl Nisg̱a’a , Scotland to Canada, and National Museums Scotland
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Lecture
Aspects of Roman Scotland
Hunter, Fraser
Hoards and Roman Scotland
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Lecture
Arqueologías del colonialismo en Puerto Rico y Escocia
Las situaciones coloniales en ambos Espacios corresponden a contextualizaciones distintas. En Puerto Rico, responde a la invasion Europea de 1493. Port otra parte, en 793 se documenta la invasion Vikinga en las Islas Britanicas. Las vidas tanto de los Pictos, como los Tainos, han sido invisibilizidas en diversas documentaciones historicas....Maldonado, Adrián
Pictos, invasion Vikinga , Viking invasion, Picts, Escosia, and Early Medieval Scotland
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Lecture
War and diplomacy on Rome’s northern frontier
The Roman army provided the muscle for the most powerful empire in the ancient world. But this empire met its limits. The fearsome legions tried three times to conquer Scotland, and three times they withdrew. This epic tale of war and diplomacy, of advance and retreat, of divide and rule,...Hunter, Fraser
Roman conquest, archaeological finds, Roman Scotland, material culture, and Stirlingshire
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Lecture
The Last Days of Fortriu: Portmahomack in the Viking Age
Join Dr Adrián Maldonado from National Museums Scotland to hear the latest update on research around the archaeological site at Portmahomack. The archaeological excavations at Portmahomack which ran from 1996-2007 revealed what is now the best-known Pictish monastery. It was a thriving workshop, creating sacred metalwork, masterpieces of stone sculpture,...Maldonado, Adrián
workshop, archaeological excavations, Pictish kingdom, Pictish monastery, Fortriu, christian site, craftspeople , and Portmahomack
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Conference paper (unpublished)
History of the Caprington Colliery Engine
The senior curator of technology at National Museums Scotland (NMS), presents the work of Geoff Hayes, whose engineering expertise was essential to the reconstruction of this engine in its current location at NMS. This paper describes what is known of its working life, its preservation, and its current interpretation.Swinbank, Ellie
reconstruction, Geoff Hayes, Caprington Colliery Engine, engineering, museum object, working machine, industrial heritage, and coal mining
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Newspaper article
How contemporary collecting will show future generations who we are
A big part of the National Museum of Scotland’s mandate is to acquire new artefacts, not least in the area of sustainability and climate change to help inspire and engage those who visit, writes Dr Ellie SwinbankSwinbank, Ellie
Sustainability strategy , climate change , biodiversity loss, cutting-edge developments, National Museums Scotland, contemporary collecting , and museum collections
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Lecture
Getting away from it all – Marie de Guise’s Town House, Blyth’s Close, Edinburgh
As Principal Curator for Renaissance and Early Modern History, Anna played a major part in acquiring for the museum the four decorative oak roundels which once adorned the rooms of Marie de Guise’s residence in Blyth’s Close, Edinburgh. The roundels reveal much about the power and influence of Marie in...Groundwater, Anna
oak roundels, architecture, Renaissance , material culture, mansion, Marie de Guise, Scotland, Blyth’s Close, Edinburgh, and sculpture
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Lecture
Radar and the Air Defence System in Scotland
Ian was lead curator for the redevelopment of two hangars in 2016 with new, people-focused interpretation which has been well received by visitors and the museum sector. Ian is a graduate of the Universities of Stirling and Leicester and his main research interest is in the history of radar, which...Brown, Ian
Radar in Scotland 1938-46, Radio Detection And Ranging (RADAR), early warning system, history of radar, and Radio Detection Finding (RDF)
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Journal article
Diversification history and morphological evolution of larks
Larks (Alaudidae) constitute one of the avian families best adapted to xeric environments, having colonized a wide suite of open habitats including deserts. Although their highest diversity is in Africa, larks occur on all nonpolar continents. We tested whether larks exhibit exceptional and/or correlated shifts in the tempos of speciation...García-Navas, Vicente ; Stervander, Martin ; Alström, Per
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Journal article
Supplement to the Burmese (Myanmar) amber checklist and bibliography, 2023
This is a supplement to the Burmese (Myanmar) amber checklist and bibliography covering taxa described or recorded during 2023, plus a couple of earlier records that were missed previously. Up to the end of 2023, 2,781 species have been recorded from Kachin amber, of which 244 were named in 2023;...Ross, Andrew J
Invertebrates , Cretaceous, Plants, Myanmar , Arachnids, Burmese Amber , and Insects
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Journal article
A review of early historical records of Collared Pratincoles in Britain, and new British first records of Collared, Black-winged and Oriental Pratincoles
This paper reviews 25 nineteenth- and one early twentieth-century British records of Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola. It follows the recent acceptance of a British first record by the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee (BOURC) from North Meols, Lancashire & North Merseyside, in 1805. Subsequent records were reviewed using the published...McGowan, Robert Y
bird sighting records, Collared Pratincole , Glareola pratincola, and British
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Journal article
Insular evolution from an archaeological perspective: a case study of Orkney house mouse
Archaeological material adds a temporal dimension to evolutionary studies that is valuable for elucidating long-term population stability and evolutionary shifts for species closely associated with humans. Here, a two-dimensional geometric morphometrics approach on first upper molars was applied to modern and archaeological samples to assess the evolution of house mice... -
Journal article
Evolutionary novelties underlie sound production in baleen whales
Baleen whales (mysticetes) use vocalizations to mediate their complex social and reproductive behaviours in vast, opaque marine environments1. Adapting to an obligate aquatic lifestyle demanded fundamental physiological changes to efficiently produce sound, including laryngeal specializations2,3,4. Whereas toothed whales (odontocetes) evolved a nasal vocal organ5, mysticetes have been thought to use...Elemans, Coen P H ; Jiang, Weili ; Jensen, Mikkel H ; Pichler, Helena ; Mussman, Bo R …
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Presentation
How to use the resources at Layers of London
An important aspect of researching the furniture trade has been to map the locations of makers and suppliers over different periods. BIFMO and the FHS Grants Committee have sponsored interns to map furniture makers and their associated trades in London, Edinburgh and, most recently, immigrants from the UK and Ireland...Zorzo , Félix
furniture trades, Layers of London, mapping project, and furniture makers
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Lecture
A “kind of exploration or antiquity-dealing-business”: Egyptian archaeology and the Antiquities Trade 1880-1939
Egyptological historiography has often focussed on the apparent scientific heroism of archaeologists, obscuring the reality that many of the same heroes were also active in the antiquities market, buying, and selling objects freely. This lecture will discuss the results of research into the entanglement of archaeology and the market 1880-1939.... -
Presentation
Rising Tide: Art and Environment in Oceania talks
Presentation of eight talks on Rising Tide: Art and Environment in Oceania including a contribution to ‘Storytelling for the Planet: a place-based approach for museum audiences’, a sector event as part of the Natural History Museum’s Our Broken Planet Community of Practice programme, National Museum of ScotlandClark, Alison
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Book chapter
Global History in the History of Fashion
Over the twentieth century, multi-disciplinary academic studies addressed dress practice and bodily adornment from a variety of perspectives, assessing the question of fashion, though few communities outside the West were awarded this term until the past generation. Anthropologists took an ethnographic stance, with works that from the late 1980s became...Breward, Christopher ; Lemire, Beverly ; Riello, Giorgio
dress practice , ethnographic approach, fashion history, bodily adornment , global, and clothing
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Conference paper (unpublished)
The National Museum of Flight & the work of the conservators
This illustrated talk will provide and overview of the National Museum of Flight - focusing on the work of the conservators, including a summary of East Fortune Airfield, and news of site development.Burgel, Thilo
aircraft conservation, maintenance, East Fortune Airfield, National Museum of Flight, and technology conservation
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Rematriation of the Ni’isjoohl Memorial Pole
A case study on the rematriation of the Ni’isjoohl Memorial Pole from National Museums Scotland to the Nisga’a Nation indigenous community in Canada.Brownlee, Yvonne
Nisga Nation, Scotland to Canada, rematriation , Ni’isjoohl Memorial Pole , Hli G̱oothl Wilp-Adoḵshl Nisg̱a’a , colonial histories, and National Museums Scotland
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Book chapter
Figures in museum display: the creation and use of a little person mannequin at National Museums Scotland
In 2019, National Museums Scotland (NMS) presented the temporary exhibition Body Beautiful: Diversity on the Cat walk. It addressed broad issues of diversity and inclusivity in the fashion industry, organized around five categories: ‘Age’, ‘Disability’, ‘LGBTQIA+’, ‘Race’ and ‘Size’. Integral to the mannequin brief was challenging perceptions of the body...McLeod, Miriam ; Ripley, Georgina
mannequin, representation, Body Beautiful: Diversity on the Catwalk, inclusivity, fashion industry, exhibition, and diversity
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Book chapter
Measurement Standards and Double Standards Reassessing Charles Piazzi Smyth’s Egyptological Reputation
In 1864–5, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819–1900),3 his wife Jessie (1812–1896),4 and a small team of Egyptian archaeological workers conducted an extensive survey of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Smyth had become interested in the structure as he read John Taylor’s The Great Pyramid: Why Was... -
Journal article
The tale of a Mesolithic harpoon head from Arisaig
This is a remarkable tale about a remarkable artifact that would have been lost to Scottish archaeology had it not been for a brave decision by a schoolgirl to disregard the views of her teachers over 50 years ago!Sheridan, J A
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Book chapter
“A Crown of Everlasting Glory”: The Afterlife of Maria Clementina Sobieska in Material and Visual Culture
Maria Clementina Sobieska was the last widely recognised Stuart queen, albeit in exile, and mother to the final generation of the Stuart dynasty. Examining the material and visual culture surrounding her funeral and afterlife, this chapter reinstates Clementina in Jacobite and Stuart history. It also considers the papal role in...Vullinghs, Georgia
Jacobites, visual culture, material culture, Royal funerals, Queenship, and Stuarts
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Newspaper article
Following the map to a time and place
A staggering 34.2 million maps were made by the British Armed Forces during the Second World War. A new display at the National War Museum in Edinburgh Castle traces their vital role in the war effort, the evolving technology used to produce them and their post war place as mementos...Gibb, Julie
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Lecture
The Neolithic Pottery from Street House
A conference will be held in the autumn of 2024 to present the evidence for the Early Neolithic salt production site at Street House, near Loftus. The site was discovered in 2014 during a programme of excavations. It is the only currently known salt ‘factory’ in Britain and the earliest...Sheridan, J A
Neolithic Pottery, Early Neolithic Britain, Analysis, archaeological excavations, and Street House
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Lecture
Street House in the Context of Early Neolithic Britain
A conference will be held in the autumn of 2024 to present the evidence for the Early Neolithic salt production site at Street House, near Loftus. The site was discovered in 2014 during a programme of excavations. It is the only currently known salt ‘factory’ in Britain and the earliest...Sheridan, J A
archaeological excavations, salt production, Street House, saltern, and Early Neolithic Britain