by Jon Lackman | 4 June 2010 | Ancient
The Dec. 2009 Antiquity cover bears an unusually alluring set of teasers:
Royal purple found at Qatna, Syria
The Bishops of Whithorn and their diet
Cannibalism in Neolithic Germany
Clubbing and stabbing in Bronze Age Spain
The eventful story of some Chinese trousers
Also in this issue, Bisserka Gaydarska analyzes the Theoretical Archaeology Group and N. James writes on the new Acropolis Museum and Greece’s hopes for recovering the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum:
Much more pressing than the issue of the Elgin Marbles is the scandal of the visitor experience on the Acropolis itself. In more than two decades, there has been no significant improvement [to the bottlenecks and noise created by large crowds] … The [Acropolis] Conservation Committee was right to fret about how much visitors understand the Acropolis. To face that challenge is the most urgent priority. And incidentally, to meet it would further enhance the case for restitution.
Having recently been to the Acropolis, I have to say I agree with the problems the visitor faces in attempting to view the site as, perhaps, they would have imagined it after an art history survey course: a pristine example of mathematical perfection, ideal proportions and beautiful harmony. However, the new Acropolis museum more than makes up for this – and in fact, counteracts the rather limited perception of the hill we tend to have. The museum, of necessity, presents a much broader view of ancient Greece than the strict classicism we are familiar with from the sculptural examples in New York, London, Los Angeles, Paris, etc. In the museum, the Acropolis is linked to the civilizations at its base, the daily experience of Athens’ citizens, their rituals and beliefs, and the rather violent evolution of the site over time. While the crowds and noise deny an experience of purity and isolation, they are perhaps more exemplary of the reality of the panathenaic festival than we care to acknowledge.