Tag: Funding

ROM set to announce new CEO… but what should his or her goal be?

In a matter of weeks, or even days, the Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto Canada,will be announcing who their next CEO is going to be.

I dont have any knowledge as to who it is, but, can certainly say that the new leader has an almost impossible act to follow.

William Thorsell, the museums current leader, will be retiring in August. His ten year termat the museum was one of unprecedented growth. Under his leadership the ROM built an expansion that saw its Bloor Street frontage turned quite literally into a giant crystal.

Collections that had been in storage from the Middle East, South Asia, South America, the American Southwest and Oceania are now on display inside the crystal. The museum is also in the process of building new galleries dedicated to Ancient Rome and Byzantium.

Over the past decade the museum has managed to land some major special exhibits. Last summer it played host to a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. This summer it will open the largest Terracotta Warriors show ever to come to North America.

It even got the opportunity to display the (second) oldest copy of the Ten Commandments – albeit for one week only. The line to see the scroll tailed off for nearly a kilometre.

Of course Thorsells rule was no pax ROMana there was plenty of controversy to go around. The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit attracted street protests, and a request from Jordan that the scrolls themselves be seized. The museum also made an error in showing the James Ossuary in 2002. It blew up on them when an Israel Antiquities Authority investigation determined the inscription on it to be fake. There is also an active, indeed never-ending, architectural debate going on about the merits of designing the expansion in the shape of a crystal.

But whats a museum without some controversy? Its common now for major museums and galleries to take some tough headlines. Take a look at the Elgin Marbles and the British Museum, the Louvre andallegedlystolen artefactsor the Met and naked art stunts … Ok maybe that last one doesnt count.

So what challenges will the ROMs new CEO face? And more importantly – what great project should Canada’s largest museum now embark on?

CHALLENGE ONE – Nubia and Eastern Rome

One of the ROMs strengths is that it has a comprehensive collection of Nubian antiquities. Archaeologist Pamela Rose, who recently discovered a 1st millennium BC dark age settlement at Qasr Ibrim, stopped by Toronto specifically to examine pottery samples at the museum.

Last January museum officials told Heritage Key that theyare hopeful that funding would emerge to build a new Nubian gallery, along with one dedicated to the Eastern Roman Empire. However since that time no announcement about these galleries has been made. It seems that one of the top priorities for the new CEO is to turnhopes into financial reality.

CHALLENGE TWO – Government funding

Thorsell enjoyed strong support from all levels of government during his term. The federal government and the province both helped fund the museums projects.

When the Dead Sea Scrolls came to the museum the premier himself was there to announce support. When the museum needed money to kick-start its Rome and Byzantine galleries, the federal minister for infrastructure, John Baird, showed up in January 2010 to cut a check.

The new CEO will probably find financial support for major projects harder to come by. Restraint is the operative word used by politicians in Canada when describing the future.

The Ontario government is running a budget deficit of nearly $20 billion CDN and has already announced delays in building new light rail transit in Toronto. The federal government is facing a deficit in the neighbourhood of $50 billion and their stimulus program, which is funding construction of the new Rome and Byzantine galleries, will be ending in the spring of 2011.

The ROM, of course, is not captive to the government when it comes to funding. It charges fees for admission and museum membership.It also has an active fundraising program. In fact the ROMs crystal expansion is named after Michael Lee-Chin, one of its biggest contributors.

If government goes to ground with fundingthenmoney fromadmission/membership and private donations will be all the more important for the ROM and a top priority for the new CEO.

CHALLENGE THREE – The next big project

What do you do after galleries for Nubia and Eastern Rome have been built? Do you plan another large expansion?

That seems unlikely.

In order to do that, you need two things space and money. The museum is bordered by the University of Toronto on the west Bloor on the north and Queens Park crescentto the east. To the south lies the defunct McLaughlin Planetarium which has recently been sold tothe University of Toronto(which has its own need for space).

So even if the cash were readily available it would be pretty hard to do a major spurt of growth without knocking down a building somewhere.

No, the next big project needs to be one that doesnt involve construction cranes. One avenue the museum should look at is building up its research capabilities by hiring more archaeologists, geologists and life scientists, and fully funding their research.

The next big project needs to be one that doesnt involve construction cranes.

Its a worthy goal and one that is already being pursued to some extent.

Just a year ago the museum hired Dr. Clemens Reichel, the director of the Hamoukar project in Syria. The work his team is doing is amazing, to say the least. We now know that Hamoukar is one of the oldest cities in the world and also experienced the first known war in human history. It pitted the sites local residents against Uruk, no less! As Im writing this his team is in the field continuing their investigation of the site.

Dr. Robert Masons work is another example of headline grabbing research at the museum. Last summer his team found a Neolithic era landscape that has stone circles, alignments and, what appears to be, burial cairns. They will be back in the field this summer trying to learn more about it.

So what other reasons are there to hire more archaeologists and do more research?

For one thing archaeological research is not anywhere near as expensive as building an expansion. To doresearch you need good lab facilities (already available at ROM/U of T), a large research library (again readily available at ROM/U of T), an annual salary (60/70 K a year for an entry levelcurator). After that you need funds for travel, conservation, equipment, some field assistants… and thats about it. In comparison the costsfor the ROM’s expansion were estimatedto be$270 million dollars.

Another point to consider -right now is an excellent time to hire archaeologists.

The financial crisis has hit academia hard, leaving many recent grads looking for institutions willing to fund their research. If the ROM were put five ads up, right now, advertising $60,000 a year jobs for recent grads withresearch programs ready to go they would have some excellent proposals.

Finally, think of the positive benefits this would have for students and Toronto residents. Researchers not only research but lecture at local universities and public events. Dr. Reichel, for instance, teaches Near Eastern archaeology at U of T. He also talked about his research at a free public colloquium, at the museum, in February.

New archaeologists would not just be bringing their research projects to the museum but to the city at large.

Staffordshire Hoard®? Trademark Application by the County Council for the Mercia Hoard

News just emerged (to me via Janet E Davis’ tweets) that the Staffordshire County Council applied for a trademark for ‘Staffordshire Hoard’ and ‘The Staffordshire Hoard’ in January 2010. The trademark is still being examined by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office. The 350 + legal counsel application is not just limited to ‘goods’ – meant to protect from ‘counterfeit’ Staffordshire Hoard souvenirs – but lists various uses in the category ‘services’ as well. Will you soon have to knock on the door of the Council and beg for a license or face legal action, if you want teach about Anglo-Saxon times?

I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me like the list of goods and services that the Council has filed for trademark is a bit excessive. Its scope is not limited to just possible merchandise, but also contains many ‘services’ which I deem to be ‘in service of’ the greater educational and cultural good. If it’s up to the Staffordshire County Council, it will soon be Staffordshire Hoard for entertainment services, cultural activities, museum exhibitions, conferences, exhibitions and seminars. Similarly, you can forget about printed matter & books, printed publications (especially those relating to Anglo-Saxon times) and photographs.

Of the 3.3 million raised to purchase the hoard, almost 2m came from grants and donations, some 900,000 of which came directly from the public and more than 1 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Public money, in my opinion, means the treasure – and its name – should stay in the ‘public domain’.

Yes, I understand – and think it is a good thing – that culture and commerce can perfectly co-exist. The Staffordshire Hoard should and will benefit the local area by bringing in more tourists who – usually – manage to spend quite a bit of money on entrance fees, local transport, food, drinks and a place to stay. I can even understand that the council plans to make money from Staffordshire Hoard branded pens, pencils and stationary (although I’ll pass) and Staffordshire Hoard replica jewellery.

That you’d have to license their trademark to organise a Staffordshire Hoard seminar, lecture or study day, that’s just one trademark to far.

I’d say one of the IPO’s common reasons for opposition would work pretty splendidly here:”You think the trade mark is one which is not unique to the applicant and should be free for everyone in that line of trade to use“. In case the Council does get their the Staffordshire Hoard trademark, currently pending review, we’ll just have to default back to the name Mercia Hoard?

Best arguments pro and contra this trademark application for ‘Staffordshire Hoard’ and ‘The Staffordshire Hoard’ by the Staffordshire County Council – based on legal knowledge or good old common sense – left in before Monday, the 19th of April, earn 100 Ancient World in London points each. Surely, you want to win a well deserved holiday in Turkey?

PS. Consider this civil disobedience: if I read this application correctly, whatever the IPO decides, you can still produce and sell Staffordshire Hoard toys (as long as they are not educational) and Christmas decorations, Staffordshire Hoard t-shirts and duvet covers, or a Staffordshire Hoard liquor. Yeey!

Philip Crummy on the Future of the Colchester Roman Circus

Proposed Visitor Centre This week a group of archaeologists and volunteers from Colchester Archaeological Trust and Destination Colchester attained their goal to raise 200,000 to buy a plot of land that covers the remains of part of what was once the only known Roman Circus in Britain. The appeal started as recently as December 2009, and was quickly won, with the help of celebrity endorsements and public goodwill. We spoke to Philip Crummy, Director of the Colchester Archaeological Trust about the achievement.

HK: Congratulations on raising the 200,000 sum you needed, how do you feel?

PC: We feel quite overwhelmed by it all, the response from the public has been fantastic, much better than we expected when we started and we’ve had all sorts of letters of support and donations that have made us think that what we’re doing is something people really want.

HK: And you’ve raised 200,000 so far, but I understand that there’s still a way to go.

PC: Well the 200,000 is roughly about a quarter of what we need to raise. That’s to pay for the public elements of the project. We have to raise around three times as much again. That’s a mixture of private money from investors to pay for other parts of the building and a mortgage for ourselves, the Archaeological Trust, to relocate into another part of the building – that will be about 230,000. We estimate there is another 150,000 worth of repairs required for the Sergeant’s mess building. Then we have two private investors to buy what space’s left in the building and bring in another 350,000 and that gets us pretty close to the total amount. So that’s how we’ll do it. The 200,000 pays for the public part of the project.

HK: What time-frame do you have in mind to complete the repairs and get the circus excavated and the reconstructions completed?

PC: We hope within this year to be ready to move in to the building and then to submit an application, which will take a good year, to the Heritage Lottery Fund, to raise the money to do the displays to kit out the interpretation centre to a high standard because that particular stage of the operation wasn’t included in the current fund-raising. So I guess to get to the end of the process will perhaps take to the end 2011 but if we can get into the building before that we will mount an interim display for the public to visit while all that’s going on – that could be in the autumn of this year.

HK: And how much archaeological work is there to do?

Well the archaeological remains are about a quarter of a mile long and they’re all underground. You can’t see anything at all, the remains are lying about a foot under the modern ground surface, so what we want to do, we want to bring that to the surface by using mounds along the places where the seats were, having the garden where the actual starting gates were, uncovering a small part of the remains and trying to do a three-dimensional reconstruction to show what the original gates looked like.

HK:Have you been to any other sites which would provide a good model for what you’re trying to do?

Well, around what was the Roman Empire you can find around ten circuses where what’s left is substantially exposed, or different parts of them are exposed. All of those are exposed because they’ve got huge chunks of stonework and masonry which, because of the climates in those parts of the world, can withstand exposure. Our climate gives us a different sort of problem and if we exposed the remains they would very quickly disintegrate. So that’s why we’re not proposing to actually attempt to expose the remains for any kind of length of time because they would decay. So what we’re going to do is use in part three-dimensional artwork and in part reconstructions.

If you walk around the footprint of the circus, which is a quarter of a mile long, it’s strange because you might think that there’s not much to go on but if someone explained to you what it all was and just put across the scale of the thing, and the positioning of it on the ground, it’s worth coming to see. But we want to go beyond that and give a three dimensional representation of the starting gates themselves. It’s the job of the interpretation centre to bring the whole thing to life and we’re actually working on a computerised visualisation for that.

HK: What you’ve achieved should really give hope to the next group of people trying to save a heritage project.

I think one of the reasons why it’s been as successful as it has been is because people, and I think it’s not just true of Colchester, feel that not enough is done with the heritage of the place. Colchester’s a very old city – it’s the oldest Roman town in the country and yet you could walk around the town centre and not get any sort of feeling about its Roman history. I think we got this response partly because we found this extraordinary old building but partly I think there’s a sense of frustration that more should be done about it. I think that, because of this appeal, over the next one or two years councillors will start to pay a bit more attention to that aspect and put it a bit higher up on their agenda.

Visit Roman Colchester

Colchester, ne Camulodunon (a Celtic name meaning ‘fortress of the war god Camulos’), was near the summit of our Ancient World in London video hitlist, being just 55 miles from London in Essex. And thankfully we had the perfect guide: Howard Brooks, of the Colchester Archaeological Trust. The trust have been discovering and preserving the city’s history for decades. And it’s clear that Howard has lost none of his passion for archaeology.

HK: Do you feel the council gave you enough help? I understand they donated 30,000.

Well we didn’t actually officially ask them for money – they made it clear there wasn’t any. What we’ve actually agreed to do is to gift to the council the garden around the starting gates, because what actually started this whole thing up was that the area around the starting gates, under the current planning permission, were going to be part of a private garden. We feel very strongly that this isn’t right. Something as important as that should be in the public ownership.

HK: How financially sustainable is the interpretation centre and display going to be?

Well we’re in talks with a major tea room company about leasing them part of the building. That will hopefully provide enough money to pay the running costs of the interpretation centre which actually won’t be very great. If we can get to that stage we feel there’s a really solid long-term business plan there that will allow us to do what we want to do. It’s about 10-15 minutes outside the town centre but the council have this idea that they’re going to develop to create a ‘heritage arc’, which will start at the museum, go up to St. Botolph’s Priory, which is not very far away, up to St John’s Abbey gate and then to the circus. It will tie the circus to the town centre and to the castle.

HK: What does your success tell us about the British public and their interest in heritage?

It tells us what we already know: that many, many people feel the past is of some value, of interest and that it adds to the character of where they live. People feel heritage counts, it’s a part of life, it’s a part of history and that it’s something we need to nurture and look after and I think the success of the appeal just reinforces that.

Discovering Tut – Lord Carnarvon: The Media, The Politics and The Curse

Last week we told the first part of the story of Lord Carnarvon, one of Britain’s greatest explorers: his love of cars, planes, travel, and – most importantly – his obsessive passion for finding Tutankhamun‘s treasures. But what became of the cavalier adventurer, and why is there not a single one of his finds in Britain?

By the time Carter and Carnarvon had broken into the tomb of Tutankhaum, Carnarvon was already a frail man. His leg badly disfigured in a car accident in Germany, the aristocrat had only originally come to Egypt on his doctor’s advice, to escape the harsh British winter. “Carnarvon was very thin, very fragile,” says Fiona, 8th Countess of Carnarvon. “He had bad health problems.”

God knows what his doctor’s advice would have been, had Carnarvon mentioned he was playing the lead role in the world’s biggest discovery. As a weak man, the humdrum of the media and incessant run-ins with politicians was overpowering. “You’ve got Luxor overwhelmed,” the 8th Countess adds, “you’ve got journalists camping in the Winter Palace Hotel, all the rooms being sold out. Everyone claimed to know Lord Carnarvon. Everyone was related to him, everyone wanted to be there.

“They were both exhausted by the time the tomb was opened.”

With activity round the tomb reaching fever pitch, Carnarvon took a boat ride south to Aswan in late 1922. While sailing down the Nile, a mosquito bite he suffered became nasty, eventually turning septic. A cut-throat shave opened the wound up again, and the Lord caught a venomous bout of septicemia. Carnarvon battled through the winter, looking like he might fight off his illness. But several months later, hypothermia took hold, and Carnarvon died aged just 56. It might not have been the mummy’s curse, but Lord Carnarvon had still succumbed to the perils of Egypt.

Howard Carter was devastated by the loss of his great friend. The pair were perfect foils for each other: Carter the eager yet naive archaeologist, and Carnarvon the savvy and wealthy adventurer. “Great-grandfather was a soothing diplomatic influence of the highest level between Britain and Egypt, when there was quite a lot of nationalism,” says George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. Carter’s affection for Carnarvon ran much deeper than a professional companionship. “Carter walked with a stick because he dressed like Carnarvon,” says the 8th Countess. “He aped many of his clothes because he respected him so much.”

“In some ways the discovery of Tutankhamun was a curse for both men.”

Carter continued to work for Carnarvon’s widow Almina until 1930, when every last artefact had been removed from the tomb. Carter’s diary is riddled with arguments, incidents and tension that never occurred when Carnarvon was about. But Carnarvon, the glue that held together the press, politicians and dignitaries, had gone. And with his death came chaos and a political tug-of-war which resulted not only in all the artefacts the pair found going straight to Cairo, but in Carnarvon’s family – in particular his daughter Evelyn, receiving no compensation for their work in the Valley of the Kings.

It was a decision that came with dire consequences for the Carnarvon estate. “He spent all his money,” says the 8th Countess. “By the time he died Bretby (Hall; in Derbyshire) had gone, Somerset estates had gone, most of the houses in London had gone, and quite a lot of the land around (Highclere) had gone. He had spent off his fortune out there.”

Carnarvon never got to see King Tut’s mummy – or even the famous Golden Death Mask, forever synonymous with his achievement. Carter and Carnarvon will forever be remembered for their incredible feat finding the world’s most beautiful ancient treasure. But it also consumed both men to the point of oblivion. “In some ways the discovery of Tutankhamun was a curse for both men,” says the 8th Countess.

HD Video: Discovering King Tut – Tut’s Tomb, House of Gold

(Click here to read a transcript of this video)

Look our for our Ancient World in London series, beginning next week, when we’ll be exploring the great names of the Age of Discovery in Britain. You can even see us exploring the great archives of the Egypt Exploration Society in London, which feature the most famous archaeologists in history, here.

Fiona Carnarvon has written two books on the King Tut tomb raid: Carnarvon & Carter(buy here) and Egypt at Highclere: The Discovery of Tutankhamun(buy here). You can watch every instalment of our special Discovering Tut video series right here at Heritage Key:

Roman Domus Discovered Near Stabiae – But Will There be Funds to Excavate?

In the small town of Casola di Napoli, about three miles south of the archaeological site of Pompeii, sheer chance has brought to light an archaeological discovery as well as some unanswered questions. A lorry driver was manoeuvring his van when he managed to cause some subsidence in part of a car park between two residential buildings. A hole opened in the ground revealing a stone arch and some walls.

Experts believe the structure revealed is a Roman domus built maybe 2,000 year ago when the area just east of Stabiae would have been largely agricultural and dotted with country villas. The discovery was made in the residential area of Monticelli, where a small stretch of Roman road was already known to exist. Local residents reported having seen a torrent of water coming out of the ground at this site when it rains heavily, according to stabiachannel.it. This could well have been caused by previously unseen underground chambers and channels built by the Romans, which would have filled with water.

The well-preserved domus could be a sign that a large Roman settlement also existed in the area. The problem is that it is right next to two blocks of residential flats. If there are further archaeological structures in the vicinity, they could well be nestling right underneath the homes of dozens of Neapolitan families. However, stabiachannel.it reports that so far there has been little sign that the Roman domus is of any interest.

Building work is currently under way to build a third residential block at Monticelli the work has been put on hold since last week’s find. Domenico Elefante, the building site’s manager, admitted his surprise at the discovery. He said it was particularly strange because two council blocks had been built there during the 1980s, and there had been no reports of archaeological finds at that time. Elefante fears that a lack of funds will mean the discovery may not be excavated properly. The site is also near to an illegally-constructed building that has already been pulled down. The problem of houses built without permission (known as ‘edilizia abusiva’) is endemic throughout Italy, particularly in the south.

In contrast, a Roman house was discovered beneath a theatre in the UK earlier this month. It was in such bad condition that preservation won’t be possible.

Photo by Gaius Caecilius, from the Heritage Key Flickr photo pool.

Archaeology & The Crisis

They claim the crisis affects us all, but did it influence the funding of archaeological excavations, conservation and research? The BBCreports it does, stating the consequences will be felt as far as property development: “The job losses in archaeology could threaten the start of recovery for the building industry as any site with historic significance has to be excavated before development can begin.“

To get an overview of the effect ‘the credit crunch’ has on archaeology, ACE(Archaeology in Contemporary Europe) has opened a webpage dedicated to ‘Archaeology and the Crisis’: “Major changes in the global economy have affected and will continue to affect our lives. Both at face value and as a collective syndrome, the ‘crisis’ clearly impacts on the practice of archaeology, on its practitioners, and ultimately on the knowledge we produce about the past. This webpage proposes to monitor some of these effects, on a country by country basis, on four overlapping themes.“

ACE is gathering – and will supply – information on the effects of the current global crisis on archaeology.You can use an online form to submit information on the impact of the crisis in your country (if needed anonymously).The survey focusses on 4 related areas: research funding and priorities, professional employment and skills, conservation and public outreach and heritage management, policies and legislation.

An example of the questions asked: What are the impacts of the crisis on archaeological documentation and finds, as studied, curated and stored by field units or by museums? Have the budgets dedicated to research (infrastructure or project based, in universities or research bodies) been affected by the crisis, in terms of available funding, evaluation criteria, types of projects selected, eligible expenditures? What impact on the broader publics interest in the past and its values does the crisis have? Which structural, policy and legal modifications follow from or are amplified, accelerated, or on the contrary delayed by various responses to the ‘crisis’ at regional or central government levels?

Got information ‘Archaeology & the current crisis’ to share?Do fill out ACE’s survey.

Via the Flemish Archaeology website archeonet.be.