The Clacton Spear: the last one hundred years

In 1911 an eminent amateur prehistorian pulled the broken end of a pointed wooden shaft from Palaeolithic-age sediments at a seaside town in Essex. This artefact, still the earliest worked wood to be discovered in the world, became known as the Clacton Spear. Over the past 100 years it has variously been interpreted as a projectile weapon, a stave, a digging stick, a snow probe, a lance, a game stake and a prod to ward off rival scavengers. These perspectives have followed academic fashions, as the popular views of early hominins have altered. Since discovery the Clacton spear has also been replicated twice, has undergone physical transformations due to preservation treatments, and has featured in two public exhibitions. Within this article the changing context of the spear, its parallels, and all previous conservation treatments and their impacts are assessed.© 2015 Royal Archaeological Institute. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The Archaeological Journal on 3rd March 2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi.org/10.1080/00665983.2015.1008839.The attached document is the author(’s’) final accepted/submitted version of the journal article. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it

Preserving what is valued : an analysis of museum conservation and first nations perspectives - Volume 1

The intention of this study is to examine the cultural meaning of preserving heritage objects from the perspectives of First Nations, to understand the significant qualities of the object to preserve, and to compare these with values held in museum conservation. This research provides detailed information and analysis in order to understand more fully the perspectives of the indigenous cultures from which ethnographic museum collections originate. In addition, it illuminates if and how conservators can preserve the conceptual integrity of these objects while preserving their physical integrity. Preserving conceptual integrity or cultural significance is an ultimate goal in conservation; for example, the Canadian code of ethics for conservators states, "The purpose of conservation is to study, record, retain and restore the culturally significant qualities of the object with the least possible intervention" (IIC-CG and CAPC 1989: 18).;This dissertation is divided into five parts: Chapters 1 and 2 (the review of the literature) introduce the research; Chapters 3 and 4 discuss conservation and establish the background context of values and perspectives; Chapters 5 and 6 present published aboriginal viewpoints on preservation and introduce the First Nations of British Columbia

Heritage Preservation : Museum Conservation and First Nations Perspectives

Cet article traite des définitions divergentes de la conservation du patrimoine qu’ont les conservateurs de musées et les membres des Premières Nations. Il explore ces différences au niveau de la méta-narration et dans les détails, en ciblant quelques problèmes liés à la conservation tels que « considère-t-on un objet endommagé » et « tous les objets devraient-ils être conservés ? ». De plus, les gens des Premières Nations cités dans cet article liaient la conservation aux pratiques muséales, aussi présentons-nous leurs opinions sur les musées et la pratique muséale. L’auteur tente également de savoir si l’emploi du terme « ethnographique » au sujet des collections autochtones reste approprié, de même que nous explorons le sous-domaine de la conservation de ces collections. Une grande partie de cet article est consacré aux points de vue des gens des Premières Nations, cités dans leurs propres termes.This article focuses on the differing definitions museum conservators and First Nations have of “heritage preservation”. It explores differences at the level of the meta-narrative and in the details, focusing on several conservation concerns such as “what constitutes damage” and “should all objects be preserved”. In addition, the First Nations people quoted in this paper saw conservation as embedded in the museum context, and their opinions on museums and museum practice are also presented. The appropriateness of continuing to use the word “ethnographic” for collections from indigenous peoples as well as for the conservation subfield that conserves these collections is also explored. A considerable portion of this paper is devoted to First Nations viewpoints voiced in their own words