Dear Ehud,

You do indeed raise an interesting point and I totally agree it is our 
responsibility to inspire archaeologists to place our study finds in 
Museums.

Just a short notice from Greece on the subject: There is a 
concentration of bitter-vetch and I think einkorn, in pots, at the 
Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. Also concentrations of charred 
crops in jars at the Museum of Volos. At the latter there is no glass 
window intervening between the visitor and the exhibit, a general 
trend in the prehistoric collection of this Museum, an innovative 
approach by the late Georgios Chourmouziadis, professor of Prehistoric 
Archaeology in Thessaloniki. There are also acorns in a pot in the 
same museum. The Museum of Vergina Tombs shows among the grave goods 
of the Macedonian kings, acorns that were found charred in the graves.

I am sure there are other similar cases in Greece of which I am 
probably unaware. It is quite catchy for visitors to see the actual 
grain so when a lot of material is available it usually gets exhibited 
over here.

Best,

Tania
Quoting Ehud Weiss <[log in to unmask]>:

> Many thanks for the important information.
> Summarizing the information sent to me so far and from my own 
> search, very few plant remains are present in permanent exhibitions. 
> When they are, it is mostly in petri dish/vials, which I consider as 
> non-attractive to the general public. To enhance the visibility, 
> photographs of the remains or the living plants are sometime added. 
> In some cases, magnification aids are used - lances, 
> microscope/stereoscopic microscope.
> As it became apparent from these examples, despite its central role 
> in present-day archaeology, archaeobotany did not accept yet its 
> appropriate place in most museums. When we go to the central, 
> established, museums this is more so. In many of them, aspects of 
> scientific archaeology is almost absent.
> Maybe it is our task to change it.
> All the very best, Ehud
>
> From: The archaeobotany mailing list 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sheahan Bestel
> Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2016 2:41 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Museum exhibition of plant remains?
>
>
> Dear Ehud,
>
>
>
> I also think this is a great discussion topic, as I love looking at 
> plant remains but don't often see them get much attention in a museum.
>
>
>
> The museum in Melbourne, Australia, has a number of plant remains on 
> display including plant remains (fossil leaves) that are hanging 
> from the ceiling encased in glass. I like the hanging option because 
> it means that people don't have to bend down and stare through 
> magnifying glasses or microscopes; they can just see the plant 
> remains through standing where they are.
>
>
>
> The Melbourne museum also has a 'living' forest gallery and garden 
> where people can see the actual plants that were eaten by Aboriginal 
> people. I sometimes find that people have no idea what a millet 
> grass or other seed plant looks like, so showing an image of the 
> plant that the seeds came from, or growing the actual plant in a 
> pot, can help people to understand what the Latin plant names 
> represent.
>
>
>
> Perhaps you can allow people to taste the plant/seeds as well, ie 
> through special cooking or seed grinding demonstrations?
>
>
>
> It sounds like a very exciting exhibition: I hope you can post 
> pictures of what you finally decide upon!
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Sheahan Bestel
>
>
>
> Honorary Associate,
>
> Department of Archaeology,
>
> University of Exeter,
>
> Exeter, Devon, UK
>
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
> ________________________________
> From: The archaeobotany mailing list 
> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> 
> on behalf of Inés L. López-Dóriga 
> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> Sent: Friday, 8 April 2016 9:23 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Museum exhibition of plant remains?
>
> Dear Ehud,
>
> I think how to approach the exhibition of plant remains is a very 
> interesting topic for discussion!
>
> In the Wessex Gallery in Salisbury Museum, UK, they have a 
> microscope and a rotating dish of plant remains which can be turned 
> by visitors to see the different plant remains. I think it is an 
> excellent idea because the microscope and remains are protected from 
> "accidents" by a glass case, but also the visitor sort of interacts 
> with the materials. Please find a picture in the link below (the 
> quality of the picture is poor, I hope you can see only a small 
> portion of the round dish is accesible to the visitor to touch and 
> make it turn, the remainder is within a thick glass case).
>
> Also, I agree with Amaia, showing this along with modern material, 
> or pictures if plant material is not available, is essential.
>
> Best,
>
> Ines
>
> https://app.box.com/s/4tf65cb4cf8gqv0m19m0yrq1g1yn0j4c
>
> 2016-04-08 9:56 GMT+01:00 amaia arranz 
> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>:
> Dear Ehud, in the National Museum.of Beirut there are seeds of 
> cerrals and other grasses displayed in petrie dishes but the glass 
> that protects the materials has an exceptional high.magnification 
> and you can see them almost as undr the microscope. Thses along with 
> pictures of modern material (otherwise poctures of the plant) should 
> give the visitor a nice perspective. They used this kind of glass to 
> read the inscriptions in small metal coins.
> hope it helps,
> best wishes
>
>> Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 19:56:24 +0000
>> From: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: Museum exhibition of plant remains?
>> To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>



Soultana Maria Valamoti-Kapetanaki,
Associate Professor,
Dept of Archaeology,
School of History and Archaeology,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
Greece

http://www.hist.auth.gr/en/content/valamoti-soultana-maria
http://iwgp-2013.web.auth.gr/
http://auth.academia.edu/SoultanaValamoti