Part 1 (1/2)
How to Observe in Archaeology.
by Various.
PREFACE
This Handbook is intended primarily for the use of travellers in the Near and Middle East who are interested in antiquities without being already trained archaeologists. It is the outcome of a recommendation made by the Archaeological Joint Committee, a body recently established, on the initiative of the British Academy and at the request of the Foreign Office, to focus the knowledge and experience of British scholars and archaeologists and to place it at the disposal of the Government when advice or information is needed upon matters connected with archaeological science. The Committee is composed of representatives of the princ.i.p.al English societies connected with Archaeology, and it is hoped that it may be recognized as the natural body of reference, both for Government Departments and for the public, on matters connected with archaeological research in foreign lands. It represents no one inst.i.tution and no one interest.
Its purpose is to protect the interests of archaeological science, to secure a sane and enlightened administration of antiquities in the lands which are now being more fully opened to research, and to promote the advance of knowledge in the spheres to which its competence extends.
One means of serving this cause is to provide information for the guidance of travellers in the lands of antiquity. Much knowledge is lost because it comes in the way of those who do not know how to profit by it or to record it. Accordingly, just as the Natural History Museum has issued a series of pamphlets of advice to the collectors of natural history specimens, so it has been thought that a handbook of elementary information and advice may be found of service by travellers with archaeological tastes; and the Trustees of the British Museum have undertaken the publication of it. The handbook has been prepared by a number of persons, whose competence is beyond dispute; and the thanks of all who find it useful are due to Mr. G. F. Hill (who has acted as general editor as well as part author), Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie, Mr. D. G. Hogarth, Prof. J. L.
Myres, Mr. J. G. C. Anderson, Mr. J. P. Droop, Prof. R. A. S.
Macalister, Mr. H. R. Hall, Mr. A. J. B. Wace, Mr. 0. M. Dalton, Mr.
R. L. Hobson, Mr. E. J. Forsd.y.k.e, Mr. A. H. Smith, Mr. R. A. Smith, Mr. A. B. Cook, and Prof. G. A. Cooke. Each contributor has been left considerable lat.i.tude as to the method of treatment of the subject allotted to him, and no attempt has been made to bring the various sections into uniformity of pattern. Owing to Prof. Petrie's absence in Egypt, it has not been possible to submit final proofs of his contributions to him.
Suggestions for improvement in future editions will be welcomed, and will no doubt be forthcoming as the result of experience. Meanwhile it is hoped that this little book will accompany many travellers in foreign lands, and that the labour expended on it will bear fruit in the improved observation and record of archaeological data, in establis.h.i.+ng sound principles for the administration of antiquities, and in enforcing proper methods of excavation and conservation. It may also be found of service by those who study the results of research as they appear in museums.
F. G. KENYON.
PART I
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
The hints which it is the object of this volume to convey are not meant for experienced archaeologists. They are rather addressed to those who, while anxious to observe and record the antiquities which they may see on their travels, are likely, owing to lack of training, to miss things that may be of importance, or, having observed them, to bring home an imperfect record. It is hoped also that they may catch the attention of some of those who are not interested in the subject, but, coming into possession of antiquities, may unwittingly do incalculable harm by allowing them to be destroyed or dispersed before any record has been made.
Most, if not all, of the countries with which we are concerned, have their Laws of Antiquities. It cannot be too strongly insisted that those laws, even if they might be better than they are, should be obeyed by the traveller. He should familiarize himself with their main provisions, which are summarized in an Appendix. The traveller who makes it his object to loot a country of its antiquities, smuggling objects out of it and disguising the sources from which they are obtained, does a distinct dis-service to archaeological science. Although he may enrich collections, public or private, half or more than half of the scientific value of his acquisitions is destroyed by the fact that their provenance is kept secret or falsely stated. Such action is equivalent to tearing out whole pages from a history and destroying them for ever, for each antiquity, whatever it may be, is in its way a part of history, whether of politics, arts, or civilization. For the same reason anything like unauthorized excavation, especially by unskilled hands, is gravely to be deprecated. To dig an ancient site unskilfully or without keeping a proper record is to obliterate part of a ma.n.u.script which no one else will ever be able to read. The tendency of recent legislation is to allow more generous terms in the matter of licences for export to excavators and collectors, and the harsher provisions of some of the existing laws are likely soon to be amended.
Before leaving home, the traveller will be well advised to make inquiries at the museums or at the head-quarters of the archaeological societies which concern themselves specially with the places which he intends to visit. A list of these museums and societies is appended to this section (p. 26). It is hardly necessary to warn him that archaeological training cannot be acquired in a few days, and that he will have to buy his experience in various ways; but the more time he can devote to working through the collections in this country, the more useful will be his observations abroad. He will be able to learn what kind of antiquities it is especially desirable to look for, not merely with the object of filling gaps in the public collections, but for the advancement of archaeological knowledge in general.
The object of archaeological travel and excavation is not to collect antiquities so that they may be arranged according to the existing catalogues of museums, but to collect fresh information to amplify and correct what we now know, to make our knowledge of the past more complete and useful.
On arrival in the country of his choice, he is recommended to continue at the National Museum the study, which we suppose he has already begun in the museums at home, of the kind of antiquities which he is likely to come across. But he should also take an early opportunity of getting into touch with the local British Archaeological School or other similar inst.i.tution, where he will receive advice what to look for and where and how to look, and a.s.sistance in procuring suitable equipment. Thus the traveller who starts from Athens or Jerusalem should apply at the British School of Archaeology. He may there, it he desires, receive instruction in any of the methods described in Chapter II, in which a little practical demonstration is worth pages of print, and will be given all possible a.s.sistance in obtaining such articles of equipment as are available on the spot. (Photographic supplies and all scientific instruments should be brought out from England.) The best maps of the district will also be accessible for examination (but the traveller is recommended to make inquiries in this respect before leaving England); the libraries will provide the literature dealing with the routes he proposes to take; and such a collection as the type-series of pottery and the Finlay collection of prehistoric antiquities at the British School at Athens may be useful to supplement his previous studies at museums, and enable him to observe with intelligence the potsherds, &c., that he may find on an ancient site. In return, he will be expected to report his results either to the School or to some other scientific society or museum at home. It should be unnecessary to remind him that the conditions of the law of the land relating to the reporting of discoveries to the competent authorities should be strictly observed. Such authorities should also be informed of any destruction or removal of monuments which may be noticed.
Another matter which should not be neglected is the obtaining of such licences as may be required by law for the acquisition in the country or export therefrom of objects of antiquity. Advice on this matter can be obtained at the local School or National Museum.
It is possible that the traveller will begin his journey at a point other than the capital. Inquiries should be made at the London head- quarters of the Schools concerning residents at such places who may be able to give advice to intending travellers.
The traveller will doubtless bring back with him such antiquities as he is permitted to export. A word of general advice on this matter may not be out of place here. The essential value of antiquities, apart from their purely artistic interest, lies in the circ.u.mstances in which they are found. The inexperienced traveller is apt to pick up a number of objects haphazard, without accurately noting their find-spots, and even, getting tired of them, as a child of flowers that he has picked, to discard them a mile or two away. If the first act is a blunder, the second is a crime; it is better to leave them lying in place. For the same reason, it is highly desirable that objects found together (e.g. the contents of a tomb) should as far as possible be kept together, or at least that accurate record of the whole group should be made, since the archaeological value of a find may depend on a single object, apparently of small importance.
Nothing, for instance, is more common, or more distressing to the numismatist, than the division of a h.o.a.rd of coins among various persons before they have been examined by an expert. If they must be divided, good impressions should at least be made by one of the methods described in Chapter II, and, if the coins are of gold or silver, the weights should be noted. This should be done even if the coins, to the inexperienced eye, appear to be all alike. The knowledge that any coin from a h.o.a.rd may be of greater value than a similar coin found singly may induce finders to report such finds before dispersing them. What applies to coins is equally applicable, in various ways, to all cla.s.ses of antiquities.
It is a.s.sumed that the primary object of the traveller is not speculation in the pecuniary value of the antiquities that he may acquire, although he may be not unreasonably inclined to recover some of his expenses by disposing of objects which do not appeal to him.
Should that be so, although the authorities of public museums obviously cannot be agents or valuers in such transactions between the owner and private collectors, they are as obviously willing to consider offers which are made to their museums in the first instance and, if the objects are not required by them, to advise the owner in what quarter he may be likely to meet with a purchaser.
CHAPTER II