Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: Wither Roman Archaeology? Nobody Likes Change!When I began working at the Guildhall Museum (now the Museum of London) in 1974, London archaeology was buzzing.The museum's archaeological unit, the Department of Urban Archaeology, had been formed the previous year, and the Institute of Archaeology (IoA) was pre-eminent in its teaching of Roman archaeology, with the result that the IoA was feeding trained archaeologists through to the Guildhall Museum, which was responsible for excavating many Roman and medieval sites.Gradually in academia, however, studying Roman Britain came to be regarded as politically incorrect, and with vociferous exponents of theoretical archaeology and other spheres of research, Roman archaeology was no longer fashionable.In addition, the lack of funding for postgraduate research (which only seemed available for theoretical archaeology) decreased the opportunities for object research and, as a consequence, few finds specialists remained in the universities.Such people can now be found working in museums or as freelance specialists subject to the vagaries of project funding.But museums, too, have undergone change.At both the Museum of London and the British Museum, 'Roman' has disappeared from department titles, and the number of Roman curators has decreased.So perhaps Mark is right and Roman archaeology is dying on its feet. Whither Roman Archaeology? What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?So where is all this leading?Museums are very much aware of the need for public accessibility -our funding depends on it.As Merriman says, "[a]rchaeology is one of the most active of museum disciplines" (2000: 24) and, as such, we are well aware of the popularity and fascination that archaeology has amongst our visiting public.Public interest in Roman archaeology has not diminished, and the Romans are as popular as ever.Surveys at the Museum of London show the Roman Gallery to be the most popular for adults, and study days are always fully booked.The inclusion of Roman Britain at Key Stage 2 (7-9 year olds) and the popularity of Classical Civilisation in secondary schools provided museums with new opportunities, and school visits are heavily oversubscribed.Museums are the public presentation of the results of Roman archaeology, and we need to train the next generation to understand and interpret it.
DOI: 10.5334/250
Author: Jenny Hall
Institution: Museum of London
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4238332656