Oh, what a nucleus!
Novel archaeological narratives at three exhibitions in Hungary
MúzeumCafé 41.
A nucleus. So much and no more. Perhaps the age, material and location by the object’s name. A typical object label that can be found in numerous archaeological exhibitions. An expressive symbol, saying more about the taciturnity of a profession than about the displayed object. A long-lasting phenomenon and as a result the question must be raised: for whom and why are archaeological exhibitions staged? Where can the postmodern view of history and social science, as well as the theoretical and methodological toolkit of new museology, be detected? Is there a dialogue between archaeological museology and contemporary culture or society? Scientific resources and archaeological IT have extended the methodological opportunities, introducing a significant change of approach: in western Europe from the 60s the New Archaeology movement insisted on laying more emphasis on researching society and an inter-disciplinary approach. Archaeology no longer involved only the reconstruction of the past and the life of people living at the time, but also an explanation for past changes. The issue of urbanisation, the analysis of cults, rituals, feasts, wars, consumption, everyday life and households have become important. At the same time, due to compulsory excavations preceding investments, the volume of explored areas has increased incredibly, as have the archaeological collections of museums. This has resulted in archaeologists being unable to process and publish their findings, while archaeology exhibitions only rarely reflect the methodological and theoretical changes which are evident in the case of research. The situation is even more complicated in Hungary, where the Iron Curtain did not open for New Archaeology and the lessons of postmodern movements can hardly be detected.