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How to make sense of treasure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

N. James*
Affiliation:
*Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK

Extract

Treasures in themselves are fetishes. Only the admirer can make 'treasure' of a find in isolation; but to wonder about it as treasure opens apt questions about why the thing was valued, by whom and under what conditions. It was worrying, then, when the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University's art collection, took in an exhibition of striking ancient finds returning to the Georgian National Museum from the USA (Smithsonian Institution and New York University). For the usual focus on the intrinsic qualities of fine art sits awkwardly with archaeological concern for context. The Fitzwilliam did tend to isolate the exhibits; but, here, that yielded an advantage as well as a difficulty.

Type
Debate
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2009

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References

Chi, J.Y. (ed.) 2008. Wine, worship, and sacrifice: the golden graves of ancient Vani. New York (NY): Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.Google Scholar