Hey Blog! During February, I went to the British Museum to a home-ed activity day!
The British Museum is a national institution which runs many archaeological & heritage organisations and visitor open days. It is one of the museums London is famous for. When I was younger and fanatical about dinosaurs, I generally focused more on the Natural History Museum – I still do – but now I am perhaps more likely to go to the British Museum, as archaeology has taken the top spot. However, last month, the museum was offering an activity day for home-edders, so it seemed like an opportunity not to be missed!
Included in the activities on offer were:
- The Silk Roads exhibition
- A talk about the Parthenon
- Two workshops, one after the other, of which you could take your pick of Living History, What makes a good Archaeologist, Felt Making, etc.
- An excuse for a day out at the British Museum!
The Silk Roads exhibition was the biggest draw for us – we had not had a chance to see it before, and the silk road, the path/s from Western Europe to East Asia and back again, is to us one of the most fascinating places in the world. It starts in China (or Japan – but you need a boat to start on the ‘road’) and travels along many winding paths through the top of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia, skirting the Middle East, traveling through Europe, reaching its furthest length in Spain or Britain (depending on the path travelled). However, it was not one road with tradesmen who travelled all the distance – merchants might operate along a short distance, before passing their wares on to another who might take them further along the path. Thus, a piece of silk in England that came from China might have passed through hundreds of owners, which is why silk was so expensive and exotic. The sheer amount of cultures the Silk Road interacted with is astonishing, and show that the diversity we think is a modern thing was thriving many centuries ago. The exhibition was so full, I could have spent another hour in there, as it featured the travel, historical events and developments, and some of the fascinating artefacts found along the way – all in so much detail and so many of them, making for an absolutely fascinating display!
Next up, the Parthenon talk. The Parthenon is the famous temple at the top of the Acropolis in Athens (Acro – high, Polis – city), the one in the traditional Greek style with Doric columns, a parade of steps up to the door, and a triangular roof of white marble – a temple to Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war who reputedly gave the Athenians olives. However, it is more than “just a Greek temple” – it is probably one of the finest surviving examples in the world, and has inspired countless buildings – including the building the British Museum is housed in! There are also some very interesting stylistic and historical features of the Parthenon that were discussed, for instance the relief carvings around the top, which were brought to Britain in the 19th century and now housed in the Museum; and how the columns are doric – representing strength; as opposed to ionic (what’s on the Museum) – representing knowledge and learning.
The first workshop I attended was about living history – like reenactment but instead of one event, a scene depicting the lifestyle at the time. It explored the need for time-accurate objects (and perhaps knowledge and behaviourisms) and how people who practice living history learn these things. It also gave us a chance to think about what items we would need to take on the role of a historical trade (needed for living history) and realise it’s hard to decide how much you do to get into the persona – just where do you draw the line at “historical accuracy” when a single sock takes an entire winter of evenings to finish?! It was very enlightening, and useful if I decide to try living history myself.
The second was about the history and archaeology and what was needed to become a good archaeologist. I knew a lot about this, as I am passionately into archaeology and have done it quite a lot! I had to restrain myself on some of the questions, to encourage the other attendees, but since I now know how it is run, I might steal some of the ideas to run with the Scouts.
It was a really enjoyable day, which included a lot of learning and was very inspiring, and I would love to revisit the British Museum again very soon!