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Book chapter
‘Coal money’ from Portpatrick (south-west Scotland): reconstructing an Early Medieval craft centre from antiquarian finds
Late 19th and 20th-century finds of debris from shale bangle manufacture at Portpatrick in south-west Scotland occasioned considerable interest at the time. The early discoveries were found in grave-digging, giving rise to folk traditions of the material as ‘coal money’ placed with the departed, but these were soon dismissed by...Hunter, Fraser
bangles, antiquarian study, Early Medieval, Irish connections, Oil shale, and craft processes
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Book
Ancient lives: object, people and place in Early Scotland. Essays for David V Clarke on his 70th birthday
Ancient Lives provides new perspectives on object, people and place in early Scotland and beyond. The 19 papers cover topics ranging from the Neolithic to the Medieval period, and from modern museum practice to ancient craft skills. The material culture of ancient lives is centre stage – how it was... -
Book chapter
Collecting nature within nature – animal inclusings in Amber in Early Modern Collections, or “Miniture marvels of nature”
When the French diplomat Charles Ogier saw frogs and lizards embedded in amber for sale during his visit to Danzig in November 1635 he called them “miniature miracles of nature.” With rare exceptions, few of these objects—copiously documented in inventories of the time—have actually survived. Instead, we must depend on...King, Rachel
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Book chapter
‘Thanks to you the best has been made of a bad job’: Vere Gordon Childe and the Bronze Age cairn at Ri Cruin, Kilmartin, Argyll & Bute
Ri Cruin is one of the series of Early Bronze Age cairns that make up the well-known linear cemetery in Kilmartin Glen, Argyll. The aim of this short paper is to make more fully accessible and account of the work undertaken by Gordon Childe in the summer of 1936 when...Cowie, Trevor
Kilmartin Glen, cairn, Vere Gordon Childe, Bronze Age, Argyll, and Ri Cruin
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Book chapter
The colour purple: lithomarge artefacts in northern Britain
This paper revisits an artefact type, lithomarge beads, last studied 40 years ago by Stevenson and Collins (1976). The rare purple colour produced by the naturally occurring mixture of haematite and kaolinite is the key characteristic and made this material desirable. Lithomarge beads are widely distributed across Northern Britain, but...Goldberg, D Martin
colour, lithomarge, purple, Iron Age, jewellery, Early Medieval, and Roman
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Journal article
Pacific collections in Scottish museums: unlocking their knowledge and potential
Eve Haddow and Chantal Knowles share the results of a major review of Pacific collections held by museums across the countryHaddow, Eve
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Book
Ancient Glass in the National Museums Scotland
Ancient Glass in National Museums Scotland catalogues the extensive collection of glass vessels, objects and fragments from late Bronze Age to the Middle Ages to be found in National Museums Scotland. The collection has been assembled over the past 150 years and is based largely on East Mediterranean pieces. An...Lightfoot, C S
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Journal article
John Muir Wood: Calotypist
The Scottish Society of Photography has been publishing writing on photography for over thirty years. During this time we have built up a substantial archive of articles and reviews. This feature, the first in a series that looks to give a new lease of life to many of those articles,...Morrison-Low, A D
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Book chapter
Mary Boyle (1881-1974): the Abbé Breuil’s faithful fellow-worker
This paper looks at the life and work of Mary Elizabeth Boyle, a Scotswoman and poet who by chance found her way into archaeology, firstly through meeting and working with Miles Burkitt and then, most importantly, by her encounter in 1920 with the Abbé Henri Breuil, the famous French prehistorian,...Saville, Alan
Henri Breuil, history of archaeology, Miles Burkitt, Scottish poetry, prehistoric art, and Mary Boyle
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Book chapter
Scottish Neolithic pottery in 2016: the big picture and some details of the narrative
This contribution summarises our present state of knowledge about Scottish Neolithic pottery, emphasising its dual origins in the Continental Middle Neolithic ceramic traditions of Brittany and the northernmost part of France, and tracing the subsequent expansion in its use within Scotland and some of the complexities of its developmental trajectories....Sheridan, J A
Scotland, ceramic traditions, Grooved Ware, pottery terminology, Castellic, Carinated Bowl, Impressed Wares, Neolithic, and pottery
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Journal article
How art treasures reveal the story of the Celts
A major exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland is seeking to unravel the complex story of the different groups who have been given the name Celts, through the extraordinary art objects they made and used.Hunter, Fraser ; Goldberg, D Martin
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Book chapter
Gleaming eyes and the elaboration of Anglo-Saxon sculpture
This paper presents the results of the analysis of an Anglo-Saxon cross-shaft fragment from Aberlady, East Lothian that confirm the long-suspected belief that the drilled eye sockets found among Northumbrian and Mercian sculpture originally contained separate eye insets. A tin lining was positively identified in one of the drilled eye...Blackwell, Alice
polychromy, colour, iconography, Early Medieval, sculpture, Anglo-Saxon, and Insular
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Journal article
Review of: The Wyvern collection: Medieval and Renaissance sculpture and metalwork by Paul Williamson
One of the world's major private collections of medieval sculpture and metalwork has now been cataloguedDectot, Xavier
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Journal article
Whose Amber? Changing notions of Amber’s geographical origin
This essay explores the issue of cultural identity and cultural identification with respect to one material: amber. Prior to the discovery of the new world and for quite some time afterwards, the primary source of amber in fifteenth-, sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe was Prussia. Few Europeans, however, really understood much...King, Rachel
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Journal article
Reflecting the Now: project management and contemporary collecting in a multi-disciplinary Museum
Nearly two million visitors a year will pass through the new permanent galleries of the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. This article reflects on the planning and collecting that presaged their redevelopment in the context of twenty-first century museum practice in the UK. We focus in particular on two...Alberti, S J M M ; Allen, Stephen ; Dectot, Xavier ; Gill, Ruth
reflective practice, contemporary collecting, project management, and National Museum of Scotland
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Journal article
People and planes: technical versus social narratives in aviation museums
Redevelopment of two Second World War hangars at the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian provided an opportunity to re-interpret the museum collections. This short account of the project looks at the integrated incorporation of oral history recordings. In particular, it looks at the new approach taken to the...Brown, Ian
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Book chapter
Revealing the archetype: the journey of a trecento Madonna and Child at the National Museum of Scotland
The National Museums Scotland Madonna and Child project sought to uncover and document the history of a fine polychrome wood carving attributed to The Master of the Gualino St Catherine and to prepare it for display. A new body of knowledge has been assembled by the interdisciplinary team. The conservation...de Bellaigue, Diana ; Troalen, Lore ; Richter, M ; Wong Rueda, M ; Palozzi, L …
polychromy, wood, Italy, Umbria, sculpture, Madonna, and 14th century
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Poster (unpublished)
The conservation of two chinese kingfisher feather cloisonne artefacts.
A poster presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Cultural Property.Plitnikas, Jill
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Book chapter
Investigation of a potentiostatic reduction treatment for leaded copper alloys
The corrosion and conversion of highly leaded copper alloys is a problem for many collections. This was investigated using the Covesea coins as a case study. These coins were actively corroding, producing a white, powdery corrosion product. Some coins were completely disintegrated. Potentiostatic reduction was investigated as a possible technique...Spencer, Helen
conservation, leaded copper alloys, potentiostatic reduction, and Covesea coins
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Journal article
By the mandate of heaven': a kingfisher-feather headdress in the National Museum of Scotland
This article focuses on a kingfisher headdress selected for the new East Asia gallery at the National Museum of Scotland. Dating to the late Qing dynasty and previously thought to be part of an opera costume, new research has revealed that this intricate headdress might instead have been the property...Cao, Qin
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Book chapter
The Museum of Scotland and conservation issues of commissioned art
The Museum of Scotland is a new building in Edinburgh which opened in November 1998 to present the history of Scotland from its geological beginnings to the present day. This article considers conservation issues within three themes: the building itself as iconic modern architecture and its effect on the exhibition...Tate, Jim ; Clarke, David V ; Spencer, Helen ; Cobo del Arco, B
Scotland), exhibiting, Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh, museology, museums, and modern art
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Book chapter
The use of accelerated ageing tests for studying the degradation of cellulose nitrate
Previous studies have shown that high levels of sulphate in cellulose nitrate artefacts may be a cause of increased degradation. Accelerated ageing tests have been used to study and monitor the deterioration of prepared cellulose nitrate samples and artefacts over time. An evaluation has been made of the effects of... -
Journal article
Saving our polyesterdays: historical plastics research
Preventing the degradation of materials in museums has always been a challenge. Now plastics in 20th century museum artefacts are presenting a new set of problems.Quye, Anita
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Book chapter
Plastics conservation – Barbie™ and friends
The chemical sciences and their applications are all around us. Many museums and galleries have scientific departments, and collectors of objects that may not even be "antique" in the strict definition of the word often need to have some scientific knowledge to stop their collection deteriorating. This resource shows how... -
Book
Plastics: collecting and conserving
From plastic use by early astronauts to its broad application by today's art curators and experts in museums and galleries for everything from storage to high-tech crating, this authoritative publication serves the needs for the professional and layperson alike as a reference.Quye, Anita ; Williamson, Colin