Following Odysseus Not the end of the world Amarna city of light ...

MuseumGifts & discoveriesThis year the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge reopened itsbrand-new doors on to freshly refurbished galleries. Its director Nicholas Thomas tellsus about the history of its diverse collectionsWhen appointed directorof the Museumof Archaeology andAnthropology (MAA)at the University of Cambridge in2006, I saw at once that refurbishmentand a new entrance on to thestreet (as opposed to via a universitycourtyard – not public-friendly)was both necessary and long overdue. It took three years to secure thefunding and two years for the workto be done; we reopened this year.So what does MAA have to offerits visitors?The museum holds world-classcollections of indigenous art andartefacts from throughout theworld. The archaeological discoveriesrange from early hominid toolsthrough later Stone Age materialsto Roman and Anglo-Saxon findsfrom Britain. Relative to the greatLondon museums and to biggercity museums elsewhere in Britain,MAA is small – just four main galleriesare spread over three floorsof an evocative early 20th-centurybuilding, but this relative compactnessbelies the range and importanceof the museum’s holdings.The collections consist of some800,000 artefacts, 200,000 historicphotographs and an archive of letters,fieldworkers’ research notes,and associated documents. Theyinclude many artefacts representingthe cultures of peoples who havesince suffered great upheavals andgreat losses, and pieces of uniquehistorical significance – the very firstAboriginal objects collected fromAustralia by any European, forexample. Collections of this kindreached the museum through networkslinking explorers, travellers,colonial officials and Cambridgescholars and scientists. The sheerreach of these relationships – in thecontext of European expansion ingeneral and the British Empire specifically– brought, over time, anextraordinary range of exceptionalart works and artefacts.The Museum was established in1884, but older collections alreadyexisted in Cambridge, that in duecourse were transferred. TrinityCollege’s famous Wren Libraryincorporated, until the end of the19th century, a display of curiositiesthat came together in muchthe same way as the founding collectionsof the older London andOxford museums. The College held11. Dominating theMaudslay Hall insidethe museum is a totempole from BritishColumbia. H. 1400cm.15 stones bearing Roman inscriptionsthat had belonged to theprominent antiquarian Sir RobertCotton (1571-1613). He was afriend of William Camden, whosebook, Britannia, published in 1586,had been of tremendous importancein advancing interest in the sites andantiquities of Roman Britain; some42