Archaeology, Heritage and Identity: the Creation and Development of a National Museum in Wales
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Archaeology, Heritage and Identity: the creation and development of a National Museum in Wales Alexandra Ward School of History and Archaeology Cardiff University Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy UMI Number: U58513B All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U585133 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Form: PGR_Submiss»on_200701 NOTICE OF SUBMISSION OF THESIS FORM: Ca r d if f POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH UNIVERSITY PRI FYSGOL Cae RDY[§> APPENDIX 1: Specimen layout for Thesis Summary and Declaration/Statements page to be included in a Thesis DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed (candidate) Date .21.Ml.2Wl.. STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of . P l l L r S .......................(insert MCh, MD, MPhil, PhD etc, as appropriate) Signed f! (candidate) Date . *2^ 1.. 1. J.Q J.. .. STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. Signed. (candidate) Date 2 -ll.llI.2W.I STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ■6 ................. (candidate) Date STATEMENT 4: PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BAR ON ACCESS I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Graduate Development Committee. Signed x (candidate) Date XI. 6 Summary This thesis examines selected issues, events, episodes and timeframes in the early life of the National Museum of Wales in order to analyse influential and defining aspects in its complex past. It provides a critical perspective on the cultural processes surrounding the foundation and development of the Museum, as well as the array of identities, archaeologies and representations produced. A further aim is to identify and deconstruct the trajectories of research and thought within the Museum’s Archaeological department during the early 20th century. The thesis seeks to demonstrate the complexities of the museum experience and to highlight the nuances and subtleties within the national context. It provides a contextual view of the initial movement to establish a national museum and antiquities collection, and subsequently focuses mainly on critical aspects in the development, research and interpretive practices of the Archaeological department. While some awareness exists across the archaeological and museum spectrum that figures such as Sir R.E. Mortimer Wheeler and Sir Cyril Fox spent part of their archaeological careers at the National Museum of Wales, there has to date been no focused, critical analysis of their active roles in shaping, and contributing to, archaeological practice within the Museum itself and within the wider contexts of Welsh and British archaeology. Closer examination of the curatorial and personnel structures in the Museum raises important questions regarding research agendas, the ways in which the material culture collections were augmented, interpreted and displayed, and conflicting political ideologies. Additionally, it draws attention to the dynamics of curatorial practice and representation in a national institutional context. Studying the period of time between the initial move to establish a national museum in the 1890s and the development of a national archaeological collection in the 1920s/30s, reveals the shifts and transformations in cultural politics, institutional practices and museological philosophies. Archaeology, Heritage and Identity: the creation and development of a National Museum in Wales Table of Contents List of Figures iv Acknowledgements v Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Constructing the Past: museums and nations, archaeologies and identities Scope of thesis 3 Existing and associated literature on the National Museum of Wales 5 Layout of thesis 6 Methodology 8 Critiquing museums 9 19th century Museums as Cultural Producers: models of social 13 refinement and civic living (Re)Making National Histories: studying national museums 19 The Political Past: nationalisms and archaeologies 23 Additional ideological elements and influences within Western-based 29 archaeologies Summary 31 Chapter 2 33 Understanding Nationalism Deconstructing Nationalism 35 Beginnings: theories and concepts 36 Nationalism, Identity and the Pre-Modem World: living traditions, 38 myths and memories The Invented Nation: nationalism and modernity 46 Alternative perspectives 53 Imagining the Nation 58 Chapter 3 66 Nations and Nationalisms in Context: the national movement in 19th and early 20th century Wales Welsh nationalism in focus 67 Cultural activity and intellectual circles within the national movement 74 Beyond the fringe: Wales on the periphery? 78 Conclusion 88 i Chapter 4 92 Politics and Place: the beginnings of a national museum for Wales Beginnings: initial steps towards a national museum 93 Underlying dynamics and determining factors 98 Conflicting identities and political power: competing agendas for 100 the location of Wales’s national museum The Cardiff factor: centrism and political sway 108 The Metropolis of Wales: city building, political divisions 111 and aspirations for a national museum The Dragon Performs: enacting Welsh national identity through 117 ceremony and invented tradition Conclusion 127 Chapters 130 Antiquarianism In Wales: the interpretation of archaeology in the romantic tradition Determining factors in the historical development of Welsh archaeology 130 The antiquarian legacy: John Ward at the National Museum of Wales and the 136 shift towards modem archaeology Conclusion 139 Chapter 6 142 The Transformation from Antiquarianism to Archaeology: R.E.M. Wheeler at the National Museum of Wales Defining the Past: instituting archaeological practice and constructing 144 an archaeological record for Wales New directions in Welsh archaeology 149 Establishing a practice, chronology and discourse 151 Contact and cultural assimilation: perceptions of Roman and 155 ‘native’ in Wales The dynamics of museums, objects and display 161 Humanising the archaeological record: persona and practice 168 Conclusion 174 Chapter 7 176 Cyril Fox and the Search for Humanity in the Archaeological Record Experiencing the past 178 Imagined Worlds, Forgotten People: excavating the Ysceifiog Circle 179 and Barrow, Flintshire The Land and the Sea: the Personality of Britain 190 Rediscovering the archaeological imagination 200 Conclusion 207 ii Chapter 8 210 Negotiated identities: imagined representations of Welsh life in the National Museum The Dynamics of Perception: Cyril Fox, Iorwerth Peate and the politics of 211 valuing Welsh folk life, the past and the gwerin An Art and a Mystery: the folk industries of rural Wales 222 Constructed Realities: exhibiting Welsh life at the National Museum 226 Transforming Objects to National Heritage 233 Conclusion 237 Chapter 9: Conclusion 240 Bibliography 248 iii List of Figures Figure 4.1 Cardiff museum during the 19th century 108 4.2 Cardiff Free Library; Cardiff Museum was located on the top floor 109 4.3 Official ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the National Museum 118 4.4 The Investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon in 1911 120 5.1 John Ward 137 6.1 Archaeological gallery, National Museum 165 6.2 Display in Archaeological gallery showing Roman finds of the 20th 165 legion at Holt. 7.1 Ysceifiog Circle and Barrow 181 7.2 Ysceifiog barrow, half excavated 181 7.3 Map reproduced fromThe Personality o f Britain 193 7.4 Map showing the location of the Bronze Age barrows excavated by 201 Cyril Fox 7.5 View of Pond Cairn after complete clearance, looking towards 202 north-east 7.6 Pond Cairn - the central stone heap and basin 203 7.7 Pond Cairn - the central burial basin 203 7.8 Sutton 268 - skeleton in grave 203 7.9 Six Wells 271 - the ‘ritual pit’ 205 7.10 Plan of Six Wells 271 drawn by Fox 206 7.11 Six Wells 271 - burial cist and stake circle 207 7.12 Six Wells 271 - drawing by Cyril Fox of the libation in the ‘ritual pit’ 207 8.1 Bygones gallery 212 8.2 The ‘Welsh kitchen’ in the Bygones gallery 213 8.3 The evolution of the wheel-car 223 8.4 The ‘Welsh farmhouse kitchen’ 227 8.5 Layout of Welsh farmhouse display 230 8.6 Plan of first floor galleries 231 * Images on frontispiece reproduced from: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/ ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/culture/sites/aboutwales/pages/culture.shtml iv Acknowledgements There are so many people who have helped me in the course of this research project. Firstly, sincere thanks must go to my supervisor, Niall Sharpies, whose support and guidance have been invaluable. His insightful comments and criticisms have been enormously helpful in shaping my ideas and refining my work. I would also like to record my gratitude to the School of History and Archaeology for awarding me a postgraduate studentship, without which I would never have been able to undertake my PhD studies. Bill Jones has gone out of his way to help and advise me throughout my PhD research and has been generous with his time. I must also thank Bill for inviting me to present my research on a panel at the annual conference of the North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History (NAASWCH), held at Swansea University in 2006.