Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Encyclopedia
The MAA : Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge
houses the University's collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artefacts from around the world. The museum is located on the University's Downing Site
, on the corner of Downing Street
and Tennis Court Road
.
and artefacts from Polynesia
donated by Alfred Maudslay
and Sir Arthur Gordon
. Anatole von Hügel
, the Museum's first Curator donated his own collection of artefacts from the South Pacific. A collection of Western Australia
n aboriginal
material was acquired from Emile Clement
. More material was collected by the 1898 Cambridge anthropological expedition to the Torres Strait
under Alfred Haddon and W. H. R. Rivers
. Haddon and Rivers would encourage their Cambridge students — including Alfred Radcliffe-Brown
, John Layard
and Gregory Bateson
— to continue to collect for the museum in their ethnographic fieldwork.
Von Hügel set in motion a move to larger, specially built, premises: in 1913 the museum moved to its present location in Downing Street, although the new galleries were not fully installed until after World War I
. Various depositions and donations of eighteenth-century collections — including material collected on James Cook
's three expeditions — were made to the museum in the 1910s and 1920s.
Von Hügel's successors as curator have been Louis Colville Gray Clarke (from 1922 to 1937), Thomas Paterson
(from 1937 to 1948), Geoffrey Bushnell (from 1948 to 1970), Peter Gathercole, Prof. David Phillipson, and the present Director, Prof. Nicholas Thomas.
Its displays are arranged on three floors:
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
houses the University's collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artefacts from around the world. The museum is located on the University's Downing Site
Downing Site
The Downing Site is a major site of the University of Cambridge, located in the centre of the city of Cambridge, England, on Downing Street and Tennis Court Road, adjacent to Downing College. The Downing Site is the larger and newer of two city-centre science sites of the university...
, on the corner of Downing Street
Downing Street, Cambridge
Downing Street is a street in central Cambridge, England. It runs between Pembroke Street and Tennis Court Road at the western end and a T-junction with St Andrew's Street at the eastern end. Corn Exchange Street and St Tibbs Row lead off to the north...
and Tennis Court Road
Tennis Court Road
Tennis Court Road is a street in central Cambridge, England. It runs parallel with Trumpington Street to the west and Regent Street to the east. At the northern end is a junction with Pembroke Street to the west and Downing Street to the east. To the south as a T-junction with Lensfield Road...
.
History
Founded in 1884 as the University's Museum of General and Local Archaeology, the museum initial collections included local antiquities collected by the Cambridge Antiquarian SocietyCambridge Antiquarian Society
The Cambridge Antiquarian Society is a society dedicated to study and preservation of the archaeology, history, and architecture of Cambridgeshire, England....
and artefacts from Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
donated by Alfred Maudslay
Alfred Maudslay
Alfred Percival Maudslay was a British colonial diplomat, explorer and archaeologist. He was one of the first Europeans to study Mayan ruins....
and Sir Arthur Gordon
Arthur Gordon
Arthur St. Clair Gordon was a manufacturer and Ontario provincial politician. Gordon, a Liberal, was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1934 provincial election that brought Liberal Mitchell Hepburn to power. He represented the riding of Kent West from 1934 until 1945.He...
. Anatole von Hügel
Anatole von Hügel
Anatole von Hügel was the second son of the Austrian nobleman Charles von Hügel and his Scottish wife Elizabeth Farquharson. His elder brother was Friedrich von Hügel....
, the Museum's first Curator donated his own collection of artefacts from the South Pacific. A collection of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
n aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
material was acquired from Emile Clement
Emile Clement
Emile Louis Bruno Clement was a prominent collector of ethnographic artifacts and natural history specimens from northwest Australia at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.-Biography:...
. More material was collected by the 1898 Cambridge anthropological expedition to the Torres Strait
Torres Strait
The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...
under Alfred Haddon and W. H. R. Rivers
W. H. R. Rivers
William Halse Rivers Rivers, FRCP, FRS, was an English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist, best known for his work with shell-shocked soldiers during World War I. Rivers' most famous patient was the poet Siegfried Sassoon...
. Haddon and Rivers would encourage their Cambridge students — including Alfred Radcliffe-Brown
Alfred Radcliffe-Brown
Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown was an English social anthropologist who developed the theory of Structural Functionalism.- Biography :...
, John Layard
John Layard
John Willoughby Layard was an English anthropologist and psychologist.- Early life :Layard was born in London, son of the essayist and literary writer George Somes Layard. He grew up first at Malvern, and in c 1902 moved to Bull's Cliff, Felixstowe. He was educated at Bedales School...
and Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
— to continue to collect for the museum in their ethnographic fieldwork.
Von Hügel set in motion a move to larger, specially built, premises: in 1913 the museum moved to its present location in Downing Street, although the new galleries were not fully installed until after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Various depositions and donations of eighteenth-century collections — including material collected on James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
's three expeditions — were made to the museum in the 1910s and 1920s.
Von Hügel's successors as curator have been Louis Colville Gray Clarke (from 1922 to 1937), Thomas Paterson
T. T. Paterson
Doctor Thomas Thomson Paterson , archaeologist, palaeontologist, geologist, glaciologist, geographer, anthropologist, ethnologist, sociologist, and world authority on administration, was curator of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge from 1937 to 1948. He gained his Ph.D...
(from 1937 to 1948), Geoffrey Bushnell (from 1948 to 1970), Peter Gathercole, Prof. David Phillipson, and the present Director, Prof. Nicholas Thomas.
Its displays are arranged on three floors:
- Ground floor: The Clarke Gallery (World Archaeology)
- First floor: The Maudslay Gallery (World Anthropology)
- Second floor: The Andrews Gallery (Changing Exhibitions)
Further reading
- V. Ebin and D.A. Swallow, “The Proper Study of Mankind…”: great anthropological collections in Cambridge. University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1984
- A. Herle and J. Philp, Torres Strait Islanders: an exhibition marking the centenary of the 1898 Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait. University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1998.
- J. Tanner, From Pacific Shores: eighteenth-century ethnographic collections at Cambridge. University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1999.
- Robin BoastRobin BoastRobin Boast is the Deputy Director and Curator for World Archaeology at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge . He teaches for the Dept. of Archaeology and the Department of Geography University of Cambridge on courses in museology, and the history and sociology...
, S. Guha and A. Herle Collecting Sights: the Photographic Collections of the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, 1850—1970. Cambridge: Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University Press, 2001 - Haidy Geismar and Anita Herle: Moving images.John LayardJohn LayardJohn Willoughby Layard was an English anthropologist and psychologist.- Early life :Layard was born in London, son of the essayist and literary writer George Somes Layard. He grew up first at Malvern, and in c 1902 moved to Bull's Cliff, Felixstowe. He was educated at Bedales School...
, fieldwork and photography on MalakulaMalakulaMalakula Island , also spelled Malekula, is the second-largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, in the Pacific Ocean region of Melanesia...
since 1914, with contributions by Kirk Huffman and John Layard; Crawford House Publishing Australia, Adelaide in association with University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Cambridge 2009 ISBN 978-1-86222-3-191