Dear List,
This has been an interesting debate - but here I sometimes feel that the distinction between being an anthropologist and a contemporary archaeologist is somewhat fuzzy. I live in Wotton under Edge in the Cotswolds (yes it does exist) a stones throw from Highgrove where Charles, Camilla live (and Wills and Harry grew up; their local is ours...). As you imagine, its not just London, but here in the bog end of the Cotswolds that the drama of the Royal Wedding has been played out! Bunting sold out weeks ago from the local supermarket (yes it did actually stock it!), Every shop has a royal display in the window - with the materialities of past royal weddings (and significantly none of the present commemorative tat, only mugs invites etc. that go back into the 19th c.). A little bit of humour (someone put a book called 'great royal disasters' in their window). The charity shops were particularly well dressed as their have this sort of stuff - wedding dresses, and the like!
The happy day involved the wedding being show live in the local town cinema (set up in 1910, and still going strong), with a street party involving tressles along the whole length of market street (at least 200 yards) to entertain every child in the town with jelly and cup cakes, and entertained by a magician. Bunting everywhere of course, town cryer, mayor.
I suppose this is Heritage - or would be seen so by cynical cultural geographers - but actually its all about community, and a sense of belonging to a place at several different levels - the local and national. There was nothing commercial or tacky about the day, but rather a sense of occasion that is some way history was being made by a local boy, and for some curious reason 4 billion people were watching it on their tellies.
I should add that being a contemporary archaeologist I have been down the high street and photographed every shop window!!
Happy Mayday - I am now off to watch the Morris dancing in the square.....
Mark
On 1 May 2011, at 09:59, Cornelius Holtorf wrote:
> Jim has a point, I think. Mummies in pyramids come to mind. Just imagine the looks of the Bosnians, if Cambridge archaeologists suddenly discover secret pyramids underneath Buckingham Palace in the Centre of London, with mummies still in it! Now that would be an asset for the UK tourism industry, and it might generate enormous funding for archaeology from private sponsors, too.
>
> C
>
> ---
> Cornelius Holtorf
> Archaeology, School of Cultural Sciences
> Linnaeus University
> 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden
>
> http://www.lnu.se
> http://web.comhem.se/cornelius
> ________________________________________
> From: Discussion List for Contemporary and Historical Archaeology [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of James Symonds [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2011 1:34 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: The contemporary archaeology
>
> I've been thinking about all of this. I note that the UK media have
> been saying that the Royal Family are a heritage asset and an
> institution that is worth preserving as they attract a huge amount of
> income from overseas tourists to the UK.
>
> I would suggest that many people visit Graceland each year, long
> after tghe death of Elviis, in 1977. The number of visitors to
> Lenin's Mausoleum in Red Square has similarly grown in recent years.
>
> On this reasoning - in this time of national austerity - it might be
> sensible to retain various Royal palaces, but at the same time
> consider embalming selected high profile members of the Royal
> household (obviously only when they expire through natural causes) to
> maximise potential UK tourist income.
>
> Just a thought.
> J.
>
>
>
>
> I do not dispute the fact that
>
> On 30 April 2011 17:51, Christine Finn <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Well, I'm watching the dust settle on my royal wedding-inspired mantel
>> piece, and on the 50s fur throw on my non hi-def TV, and - in truth - I've
>> been mindfully black- bagging - the bunting, strawberry stalks, the
>> asparagus roots... I have put the Pimms and gin bottles into recyling, and
>> am still consuming the previous days' papers - and today's - and look
>> forward to tomorrow's. Like Sarah May, I feel contemporary archaeology it is
>> rather about what we forget, more than what we aim to remember. The garbage
>> cleaners in the Mall will have had the first-hand experience for sure. But
>> at any rate, I loved the day.
>>
>> C
>>
>> On 30 April 2011 11:12, MAY, Sarah <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> I've always believed archaeology does best with the overlooked - drawing
>>> out what is interesting from what is relatively unobserved. That event was
>>> all observation. If it interests you Iain why don't you do something, its
>>> not too late for it to be considered contemporary
>>>
>>> S
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: Discussion List for Contemporary and Historical Archaeology
>>> [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of pmgb
>>> [[log in to unmask]]
>>> Sent: 30 April 2011 10:45
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: The contemporary archaeology
>>>
>>> maybe it was too much of a case of nausea and abjection (c.f. Buchli and
>>> Lucas 2001)
>>>
>>> P G-B
>>>
>>> On 30/04/2011 04:21, Iain Stuart wrote:
>>> As an outsider looking at the cutting edge of British archaeology I am
>>> more than a little disappointed that there has been nothing on this group
>>> about the archaeology of the Royal Wedding.
>>> Surely somebody did a site survey of the route looking at the temporary
>>> shelters of Royal watchers, or maybe someone has compared the typology of
>>> souvenir mugs and plates... there were so many possibilities. Yet nothing
>>> seems to have been posted.
>>>
>>> It seems to be a sad day for contemporary British historical archaeology.
>>>
>>> Dr Iain Stuart
>>> Partner
>>> JCIS Consultants
>>>
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>>> Visit the new English Heritage website: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk
>>> . The site has a new, dedicated section for heritage professionals:
>>> http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional together with information on
>>> days out http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout, heritage news
>>> http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news, looking after listed
>>> properties http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/your-property and the latest
>>> information on heritage protection:
>>> http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing.
>>>
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>>> contemp-hist-arch is a list for news and events
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>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Dr James Symonds FSA FSA Scot MIfA
>
> York Archaeological Trust Fellow in Historical Archaeology
>
> Department of Archaeology & Department of History
>
> University of York
>
> King’s Manor
>
> York Y01 7EP, UK
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> contemp-hist-arch is a list for news and events
> in contemporary and historical archaeology, and
> for announcements relating to the CHAT conference group.
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contemp-hist-arch is a list for news and events
in contemporary and historical archaeology, and
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