![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Written in Bone
Apr. 20th, 2009 11:06 pmSaturday was a perfectly brilliant day to visit the National Mall. Sun shining, flowers blooming, birds singing, clear skies, just enough wind to keep kites flying up and down the green. And a relatively average crowd size, for a Saturday in spring!
I left my apartment a little after ten, but didn't get to the Smithsonian until about noon, due mostly to a half-hour's delay on the metro. Luckily I had a book with me - I have a few weeks left to finish People of the Book before we discuss it in class. The first few chapters were an excellent prelude to a museum visit, especially to an exhibit dedicated to bringing the past to life.
Let me give some brief background about the exhibit and my interest in it. Written in Bone will be at the National Museum of Natural History until 2011. It provides, first, an introduction to forensic anthropology, then uses those techniques along with historic and archaeological methods to explore the lives and deaths of some of the earliest colonists in Jamestowne, Virginia, and St. Mary's City, Maryland. East coast historical archaeology is something I've been a bit involved with, of late, and it could very well become the subject of my MA thesis. (I tend to be more of an artifact girl than a bone girl - but I'm interested in all of it, and I want to learn.) Also, I'd just been to Jamestowne in December 2008, and visited their absolutely wonderful archaeology museum, and I was curious to see how they interpreted the material from this perspective. I'd heard a lot about the Smithsonian exhibit, and had been looking forward to visiting ever since it opened.
Also, I took a Museum Practice class last semester, so I'll probably get at least a little into the details of how the exhibit was designed and presented. Bear with me.
Quick note about me: I grew up in the DC metro area, and we used to head down to the Smithsonian once or twice a year, back when Uncle Beasley (not my picture, though there's a ton just like it at my mom's house) still sat on the mall, available for climbing on. The Natural History Museum is my number one most favorite museum, ever, in the entire universe.
So, of course, I had a lot of things I wanted to pay a visit to before I left for the day. But I headed straight for the forensics exhibit, because I knew I wanted to get through it before I started feeling even a twinge of museum fatigue.
Two and a half hours later, I walked out and ate the last of my Easter egg salad sandwich on a park bench, watching the birds peck and squabble for crumbs.
( Written in Bone )
So, that was my lovely Saturday in DC. I missed that in North Dakota, and I'll know I'll miss it in Massachusetts, too: the ability to just go to the Mall when I feel like it. Maybe some of Boston's fantastic museums will help to soothe my pain.
That got long. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I hope you go see Written in Bone if you get the chance. Despite the problems I mentioned, it is really a wonderful depiction of forensic historical archaeology.
And here's a picture of Darcy, totes chillin. Please lolcat at will.
I left my apartment a little after ten, but didn't get to the Smithsonian until about noon, due mostly to a half-hour's delay on the metro. Luckily I had a book with me - I have a few weeks left to finish People of the Book before we discuss it in class. The first few chapters were an excellent prelude to a museum visit, especially to an exhibit dedicated to bringing the past to life.
Let me give some brief background about the exhibit and my interest in it. Written in Bone will be at the National Museum of Natural History until 2011. It provides, first, an introduction to forensic anthropology, then uses those techniques along with historic and archaeological methods to explore the lives and deaths of some of the earliest colonists in Jamestowne, Virginia, and St. Mary's City, Maryland. East coast historical archaeology is something I've been a bit involved with, of late, and it could very well become the subject of my MA thesis. (I tend to be more of an artifact girl than a bone girl - but I'm interested in all of it, and I want to learn.) Also, I'd just been to Jamestowne in December 2008, and visited their absolutely wonderful archaeology museum, and I was curious to see how they interpreted the material from this perspective. I'd heard a lot about the Smithsonian exhibit, and had been looking forward to visiting ever since it opened.
Also, I took a Museum Practice class last semester, so I'll probably get at least a little into the details of how the exhibit was designed and presented. Bear with me.
Quick note about me: I grew up in the DC metro area, and we used to head down to the Smithsonian once or twice a year, back when Uncle Beasley (not my picture, though there's a ton just like it at my mom's house) still sat on the mall, available for climbing on. The Natural History Museum is my number one most favorite museum, ever, in the entire universe.
So, of course, I had a lot of things I wanted to pay a visit to before I left for the day. But I headed straight for the forensics exhibit, because I knew I wanted to get through it before I started feeling even a twinge of museum fatigue.
Two and a half hours later, I walked out and ate the last of my Easter egg salad sandwich on a park bench, watching the birds peck and squabble for crumbs.
( Written in Bone )
So, that was my lovely Saturday in DC. I missed that in North Dakota, and I'll know I'll miss it in Massachusetts, too: the ability to just go to the Mall when I feel like it. Maybe some of Boston's fantastic museums will help to soothe my pain.
That got long. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I hope you go see Written in Bone if you get the chance. Despite the problems I mentioned, it is really a wonderful depiction of forensic historical archaeology.
And here's a picture of Darcy, totes chillin. Please lolcat at will.
Tags:
