The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology’s official blog has moved to a new address: http://kelseymuseum.wordpress.com/.
Or you can access the new blog through our website homepage at http://www.lsa.umich.edu/kelsey/.
This site will be closed as of July 1, 2013. Thank you very much for following us. We hope you will continue to do so.
BY TODD GERRING, Community Outreach Supervisor, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology invites you to bring your child to explore life in ancient Egypt on Sat., April 20 from 1-3 p.m.
Children ages 5-12 will learn about ancient Egypt during hands-on activities such as crown making, a jewelry workshop, and hieroglyphic writing.Each child will make a flower wreath like the one found on King Tut as well as a mummy made from a doll filled with candy organs!
Parents and children alike can sit back and watch a presentation on Egyptian mummification practices or explore the museum galleries to see artifacts from ancient Egypt and other civilizations of the Mediterranean.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 647-4167 or email kelseymuse@umich.edu.
Above left: Kayla Romberger, Astronaut Ice Cream. Above right: Alisha Wessler, Compass.
BY PEG LOURIE, Editor, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan
Kelsey Contemporaries: Kayla Romberger and Alisha Wessler opens March 15 at the Kelsey Museum. This special exhibition features the multimedia work of two Master of Fine Arts students from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design and Museum Studies Program. The artists explore themes of collection, museological display, and material culture in the context of an archaeological museum. Displayed together, the two artists’ work creates a dynamic dialog between dystopian and utopian views of the relationships people form with objects.
Kayla Romberger’s project, “100 Ways to Avoid Dying,” traces the material culture of paranoia. This installation exhibits the stuff of survivalists—tin cans, foodstuffs, matches, bullets, and batteries. Produced from handmade and found objects, the work confronts visitors with documents from a culture of preparation, probing how people’s fear of the future—or the unknown—is mediated by objects.
Alisha Wessler’s “From Afar It Is an Island” uses archaeology as a metaphor for excavation of the unconscious, featuring objects that occupy the indeterminate realm between dream and reality, nature and artifice. This installation ventures into the speculative field of psychometry, exploring whether an object’s past can be revealed through physical contact. Using both authentic and pseudo-scientific texts, the installation reflects on essential human desires to collect, narrate, and interpret.
Please join us to celebrate the opening of this exhibition on March 15, 6:00-9:00 pm
When it comes to the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology’s collections, not all artifacts are created equal. Some call out to us intellectually, others emotionally. To that end, we asked our curators to name their favorite Kelsey artifact or object. Here is the third in a series of seven.
BY ELAINE GAZDA, Curator of Roman and Hellenistic Collections, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan
Favorite Artifact. “The Room of the Mysteries”, A Watercolor Representation 1925-27 by Maria Barosso
Why. “As a historian of Roman art, I have long been interested in sculptures and paintings of the Roman era that have been labeled in museums and textbooks as Roman copies after lost Greek originals. The watercolors painted by Maria Barosso fascinate me as beautiful illustrations of how copies of works of art become works of art in their own right and take on lives of their own. Barosso’s paintings are aesthetically appealing evocations of the Roman paintings that still remain on the walls of the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, but they are also powerful visual statements of the ways in which this 20th century artist’s own aesthetic sensibility transformed the “original” she copied. In her correspondence with Professor Kelsey, Barosso expressed her desire to capture the original beauty of the Roman paintings. This required her to look beyond the damage that the Roman paintings had suffered from the volcanic eruption of AD 79 and centuries of burial and creatively re-imagine them in an undamaged state. In the process, Barosso’s own style inflected the Roman imagery with an early 20th-century Italian “accent.” Such subtle stylistic inflections can also be detected in ancient Roman works that emulate earlier Greek models.”
Background. The Villa of the Mysteries was situated in fertile farmland outside the walls of Pompeii, a short distance northwest of the city. It was discovered and partially excavated in 1909 by the owner of the land whose workmen first uncovered a lavishly adorned room containing murals that rapidly became famous. Later excavations in 1929-1930 by the archaeological authorities of Pompeii showed that approximately half of the villa had been devoted to agricultural and other utilitarian activities. The other half had been the proprietor’s residence, with splendidly decorated rooms, some with large windows, and terraces that provided vistas out to the countryside, the mountains, and the Bay of Naples.
Before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 forever altered the landscape, some of the best views from the Villa of the Mysteries were to be enjoyed from a large reception and dining room known to archaeologists as Room 5. This room preserves monumental murals that relate to the Greek god Dionysos. The Romans knew this god of acriculture, wine, and the bacchanal as Bacchus or Liber. The roughly life-size, mostly female figures appear to enact rituals related to the mystery cult of this god, whose sacred rites were known only to initiates. The Villa of the Mysteries takes its modern name from the imagery in this room. The identity of the Roman owner of the villa is not known.
The murals in the Villa of the Mysteries have few counterparts in Roman art. Coincidentally, the villa of Publius Fannius Synistor near Boscoreale, from which the Kelsey Museum’s farming equipment, mill, and hardware come, had wall paintings of comparable scale and quality. Most of them are now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. The murals of the Villa of the Mysteries remain in their original context in Pompeii.
About the Watercolors. The paintings in the Villa of the Mysteries became famous with a few years of their discovery in 1909. Although the murals were made known to the world through published black and white photographs, color reproductions were not available at that time. In 1924, before the villa was fully uncovered, Professor Francis W. Kelsey commissioned a large-scale color replica for the University of Michigan so that scholars, students, and the public would be able to study and enjoy the murals in all their glory. He contracted with an Italian artist, Maria Barosso, who was the head archaeological artist for the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill excavations in Rome, to paint the replica.
Although Kelsey wanted a full-scale replica, Maiuri agreed to allow Barosso to paint only a five-sixths scale version. The end result, nonetheless, evokes the monumentality of the Roman paintings. Professor Kelsey intended also to reproduce the floor in an installation that he planned for a new gallery at the University of Michigan. Kelsey unfortunately died in May 1927, before the paintings arrived in Ann Arbor. In partial fulfillment of his plan to suggest the original effect of the ancient room, the Kelsey Museum created a reduced-scale version of the outer border of the Roman floor.
Find It. Climb the center stairs to the second floor of the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing. Make a slight turn left, then right directly toward the end of the building. Then turn right again into the recreated room that showcases the murals, just as Professor Kelsey envisioned so long ago. Lights will come on as you enter.
When it comes to the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology’s collections, not all artifacts are created equal. Some call out to us intellectually, others emotionally. To that end, we asked our curators to name their favorite Kelsey artifact or object. Here is the second in a series of seven.
BY SUZANNE DAVIS, Associate Curator and Head of Conservation, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan
Favorite Artifact. “Statuette of a Young Man (kouros).” Bronze, solid cast with engraved details, Archaeic Period (6th century BC), Rome, Italy. E.B. Van Deman bequest 1938, KM 6708. (Above top photo: front view; above bottom: back view).
Why. “I like this little guy because he is the perfect pocket-sized man. If you visit him in person, you can see how the figurine is curved due to his funny posture. As a conservator, I’ve never been particularly attracted to the metal objects I’ve worked on, with the exception of this one. He is the cutest copper alloy ever!”
About Artifact. This statuette of a young man most likely was made in the sanctuary of an Etruscan god and purchased there by a worshiper to dedicate to the deity. It may have represented the worshipper symbolically and, when left at the sanctuary, reminded the deity of his continual devotion.
The kouros type originated in the Greek world, but this Etruscan statuette differs from its Greek models. The tautness of the youth’s pose, the strongly arched back, and the large head with its lively facial expression lends the figure an aura of energy characteristic of the art of Archaic Etruria.
Background. From the Villanovan Iron Age, the Archaic Period (ca. 900-480 BC), the Etruscans developed a distinctive visual culture that drew upon indigenous traditions and contemporary artistic trends represented by imported objects, especially in those from the ancient Near East, Egypt, and Greece.
Find It. On the first floor in an exhibit case that backs up to the window, opposite the ancient Greek case, in the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.
When it comes to the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology’s collections, not all artifacts are created equal. Some call out to us intellectually, others emotionally. With this in mind, we asked our curators to name their favorite Kelsey Museum artifacts and why each was a favorite. This is the first in a series of seven.
BY SHARON HERBERT, Museum Director and Curator of Greek and Hellenistic Collections, University of Michigan
Favorite Artifact. Alabastron, Clay, Protocorinthian (ca. 700-650 BC), National Museum of Athens, exchange 1933. KM 10925
Why. “The still-visible incision marks and the center impression of the compass point used to make the scales connects me to the artist who made them more than 2,662 years ago. In my imagination, I can almost see the artist carefully centering the compass point into the clay.”
About Artifact. This small oil bottle originally was decorated with a colorful pattern of small red, yellow, and black scales. The ancient paint has disappeared and all that remains of the artist’s meticulous work are incision marks outlining the scales and the center impression of the compass point used to make them.
Find It. In the ancient Greek case (on the left-hand side in front) on the first floor of the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.
BY SEBASTIAN ENCINA, Collections Manager, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan
A month has passed since I arrived at Karanis, and work has been progressing well. Several areas are open at the moment, encompassing different sections of the site. The team is working mostly in areas not excavated by the Michigan team in the 1920s, outside the original Michigan boundaries. So far they have been excavating at a granary to the east of the North Temple, a kiln south of the South Temple, and a bathhouse north of the North Temple.
The finds from all sections have been interesting. Plenty of pottery has been found throughout the site, which is not at all surprising. Most of it consists of body sherds, but on occasion the team has found more unusual pieces, including filtered rims and whole vessels.
Glass and terracotta are still appearing. Fragments of a mask, possibly, and fragments of a shrine, potentially, have been excavated at the granary. This trench has also yielded a leather sandal, two large stone basins, and a mortar.
The site of Karanis has been a blessing for scholars for the amounts and types of materials discovered. This includes organics, which are still present: seeds, charcoal, textiles, and animal remains have come up in great numbers. Most interesting of all, though, are the large baskets and rope/cordage found. The weaving patterns used and shapes are reminiscent of those in the Kelsey collections.
There have been a few surprises thus far. The granary team found a pen that could have held animals, but its construction is puzzling. Walls were added that appear to serve no purpose. There is a hole in the wall, but its placement is right behind the newly built wall. Room 1 in the granary has a low-wall bin that seems quite small to have held much.
Unfortunately, one trench, the kiln, lies in the area destroyed by the sebakhim (farmers who dug up mudbricks for reuse). The levels here are disturbed, though they are still yielding plenty of finds. The room has two kilns, one small and one large. Though one glass fragment was found, it is likely this kiln was used for ceramics, as plenty of pottery and slag are found in the trench.
Due to ongoing work at Karanis, I will not be posting pictures of finds, as the team will likely want to publish their materials. However, I can show personal pictures of the site to give the reader a sense of the state of the town. Much has changed since Michigan left in 1935. Buildings that once stood prominently are covered by sand. Walls that towered over workers no longer exist. Wall paintings, decorated niches, dovecotes, arches are no longer visible. Some have been covered by backfill. Some have been claimed by the desert sands. Some have been destroyed by human hands.
When I return to Ann Arbor, I will present additional photographs to show the difference between 1920s Karanis and 2012 Karanis. Most has changed as detailed above. But the images shown here give a glimpse of how some structures remain unchanged.
A month has passed since I arrived at Karanis, and work has been progressing well. Several areas are open at the moment, encompassing different sections of the site. The team is working mostly in areas not excavated by the Michigan team in the 1920s, outside the original Michigan boundaries. So far they have been excavating at a granary to the east of the North Temple, a kiln south of the South Temple, and a bathhouse north of the North Temple.
The finds from all sections have been interesting. Plenty of pottery has been found throughout the site, which is not at all surprising. Most of it consists of body sherds, but on occasion the team has found more unusual pieces, including filtered rims and whole vessels.
Glass and terracotta are still appearing. Fragments of a mask, possibly, and fragments of a shrine, potentially, have been excavated at the granary. This trench has also yielded a leather sandal, two large stone basins, and a mortar.
The site of Karanis has been a blessing for scholars for the amounts and types of materials discovered. This includes organics, which are still present: seeds, charcoal, textiles, and animal remains have come up in great numbers. Most interesting of all, though, are the large baskets and rope/cordage found. The weaving patterns used and shapes are reminiscent of those in the Kelsey collections.
There have been a few surprises thus far. The granary team found a pen that could have held animals, but its construction is puzzling. Walls were added that appear to serve no purpose. There is a hole in the wall, but its placement is right behind the newly built wall. Room 1 in the granary has a low-wall bin that seems quite small to have held much.
Unfortunately, one trench, the kiln, lies in the area destroyed by the sebakhim (farmers who dug up mudbricks for reuse). The levels here are disturbed, though they are still yielding plenty of finds. The room has two kilns, one small and one large. Though one glass fragment was found, it is likely this kiln was used for ceramics, as plenty of pottery and slag are found in the trench.
Due to ongoing work at Karanis, I will not be posting pictures of finds, as the team will likely want to publish their materials. However, I can show personal pictures of the site to give the reader a sense of the state of the town. Much has changed since Michigan left in 1935. Buildings that once stood prominently are covered by sand. Walls that towered over workers no longer exist. Wall paintings, decorated niches, dovecotes, arches are no longer visible. Some have been covered by backfill. Some have been claimed by the desert sands. Some have been destroyed by human hands.
When I return to Ann Arbor, I will present additional photographs to show the difference between 1920s Karanis and 2012 Karanis. Most has changed as detailed above. But the images shown here give a glimpse of how some structures remain unchanged.
A special exhibition, “Conserving Antiquity,” opens at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology on Fri., Nov. 2, 2012.
The exhibition focuses on the essential but often hidden work of preserving art and artifacts. We invite you to step behind the scenes and experience the fascinating work of conservators, which blends scientific research and hands-on treatment with the study of art, archaeology, and history.
Come see intriguing objects — like an ancient Egyptian mummy mask and a Roman soldier’s leather armor — and learn about their conservation.
Participate in a variety of activities, including investigation of mysterious artifacts.
Interact with conservators about their work.
Explore archaeological conservation through two short films; one of them follows the amazing conservation journey of the Kelsey Museum’s Barosso watercolors from the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii.
Reflect on your own understanding and appreciation of cultural heritage and what preservation means to you.
Exhibition-related Events:
Friday, Nov. 2: The exhibition opens with a lecture by Dr. Matthew Adams, Senior Research Scholar at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University: “Conserving Ancient Abydos: Discovery, Recovery, and Responsibility.” Auditorium D, Angell Hall, 6 pm.
Friday, Dec. 7: John Steele, Conservator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), speaks about recent DIA conservation projects. Kelsey Museum Lecture Hall, 6 pm.
Friday, Jan. 18: Clara Deck, Senior Conservator at the Henry Ford Museum, speaks about conservation at huge history museums like the Henry Ford, “America’s Greatest History Attraction.” Kelsey Museum Lecture Hall, 6 pm.
For more information, contact 734-764-9304.
BY SEBASTIAN ENCINA, Collections Manager, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan
The University of Michigan’s Karanis excavations in the 1920s/1930s profoundly affected numerous departments at the University. Led by Francis Kelsey, the Karanis team collected artifacts that form the core of the collections housed in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. The nearly 50,000 pieces remain a focus of research, exhibition, and outreach despite the fact that Michigan left the site in 1935.
In 2005, Prof. Willeke Wendrich of UCLA procured a permit to excavate at Karanis. Since then, Dr. Wendrich’s teams have continued research at the site to expand our knowledge of Graeco-Roman Egypt, particularly in the provincial areas.
This season, Fall 2012, Dr. Wendrich has been kind enough to extend me an invitation to join the Karanis team in the familiar position of registrar. During my stay here, I will be seeing the freshly excavated materials currently being found at the site and have a chance to compare them to what Kelsey and Enoch Peterson dug up in the 1920s and 1930s. At the same time, when I can, I will be writing a blog for the Kelsey Museum to share my experiences and thoughts about the current state of Karanis.
I’ve already spent two days at the site and have marveled at its sheer size and condition. Though the Kelsey Museum holds the original plans and maps, the chance to see it in person has given me the proper perspective on how vast the site is and how small the rooms actually are. Unfortunately, Karanis no longer stands as it once did. The views of Karanis captured by George Swain and his team of photographers (including Peterson and Easton Kelsey) are not what the visitor will find today. Many walls have collapsed, many structures no longer stand.
In the coming months, I will update this blog with new findings from the field. As register, I will see all finds come across my desk. I will speak with all the specialists and gather information about those items, and how they compare to the Kelsey’s holdings. I will photograph the site and try to do so from the same angles as Swain. All this I will share with you.
This wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of Dr. Willeke Wendrick and Kelsey Director Dr. Sharon Herbert. To both of them I owe a great deal of gratitude.
Until next time, back out into the field.
Beginning on June 8, the University of Michigan’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology will present a special exhibition, “A Man of Many Parts: The Life and Legacy of Francis Willey Kelsey,” that pays homage to the museum’s namesake. Much of the museum’s collections was collected by Kelsey or came from excavations he initiated in the 1920s.
Kelsey’s many leadership roles included:
- Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) president from 1907 to 1912,
- University of Michigan Department of Latin chair from 1890 to 1927,
- American Philological Association president from 1906 to 1907, and
- University Musical Society president from 1891-1927.
Professor of Latin at the University of Michigan from 1889 until his death in 1927, Kelsey was a man of exceptional intellect, great energy and irrepressible good humor, whose wide-ranging vision helped to build the University of Michigan into an internationally renowned center of learning.
Informed by John Griffiths Pedley’s new biography*, The Life and Work of Francis Willey Kelsey, the exhibition draws upon the Kelsey Museum’s extensive collection of archival photographs, slides, postcards, stereoscopic images and guidebooks used by Kelsey on his expeditions and upon Kelsey’s papers, now at the Bentley Historical Library.
From the Kelsey Museum’s library come the Kelsey family’s genealogy, annual reports of the professional organizations Kelsey advised and led, and a student’s well-used copy of Kelsey’s textbook edition of Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War.
Gifts from members of Kelsey’s family — his copy of a rare 16th-century edition of Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura, recently given to the University by Kelsey’s grandson, and family papers and photographs given by his granddaughter — help paint a fuller picture of Kelsey’s love of rare books and his personal life.
Kelsey’s expeditions to Europe, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Tunisia encompassed scholarly exploration as well as humanitarian activity. His expeditions charted the course for much of the Kelsey Museum’s current archaeological fieldwork and yielded a large part of its artifact collection. Throughout the museum, the exhibition highlights objects that Kelsey was responsible for acquiring.
Beyond the Kelsey Museum’s own collection, the exhibition showcases examples of rare manuscripts and ancient papyri now housed in the Special Collections and Papyrology Collection at the Hatcher Graduate Library, many of them purchased with funds Kelsey raised from major donors in Detroit—among them Charles L. Freer and Horace H. Rackham.
From the Visual Resources Collection of the Department of the History of Art come lantern slides of archaeological sites and artifacts made by George R. Swain, the photographer with whom Kelsey collaborated for decades to build the University’s slide and photograph collection. Also on display is a selection of volumes of the University of Michigan Humanistic Series, which Kelsey was instrumental in establishing and editing. This series planted the seed of what is now the University of Michigan Press.
As a lover of music and president of the University Musical Society from 1891to 1927, Kelsey worked tirelessly to bring the best performers and programs to Ann Arbor. Vintage concert programs and archival photographs of the University’s Hill Auditorium and the Ann Arbor School of Music illustrate this side of Kelsey’s accomplishments. Few today realize that Hill Auditorium’s present location was decided in discussions between Kelsey and the architect, Albert Kahn, and that the Frieze organ now in Hill came there as a result of Kelsey’s fundraising efforts.
Educator, scholar, explorer, builder of collections, international figure in his profession, humanitarian, lover of music, and devoted family man, Francis Willey Kelsey was truly a man of many parts. This exhibition honors an extraordinary human being and his legacy, which shaped the University of Michigan and the archaeological profession of today.
