The Reverse Heads
Coursework 3
Object Life-Cycle (complete)
Objective
Your mission is to research, analyse, and interpret an artefact in terms of its life cycle as outlined below.
Your project will showcase your:
Application of the practical and theoretical skills used in Egyptology
Ability to write a scholarly analysis and interpretation of an object from its inception to its potential future use
Understanding of how material culture is created and transformed with particular reference to Ancient Egypt
Awareness of the bias inherent due to the nature of the archaeological record and the problems of its interpretation
Basic understanding of a range of methodologies and theoretical positions related to archaeology, heritage, museums, and Egyptology
Advanced academic research skills
Polished academic bibliographical and referencing skills (according to APA 6th)
Incorporation of feedback from one assignment to another
Details
VALUE: 70%
LENGTH: 3000-4000 words (no more, no less). This excludes citations, bibliography, captions, tables, graph, charts, footnotes
SUBMIT: Upload to Turnitin
FEEDBACK: Feedback sheets via Turnitin
Guidelines
The project must be written in grammatically correct formal English prose and follow the bibliographical and referencing guidelines according to APA 6th (Links to an external site.).
Images should be clear and captioned.
Integrate prior feedback into this final project.
Use evidence and cite your sources to support what you say. Do not risk plagiarism!
You must include least 10 meaningful sources that include:
at least 2 journal article
at least 2 chapters from edited volumes
at least 2 catalogues
Relevant chapters from Nicholson, P. T., & Shaw, I. (Eds.). (2000). Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press are in addition to the 10 sources minimum.
Do not include:
textbooks
general books on Ancient Egypt written by non-scholars
outdated sources
anything by Budge
museum object information sheets
Egypt Information sheets. Do attach a copy of that sheet to your project.
Note the key word here is “USE.” That is, you are expected to provide evidence that you have consulted, read, and—most importantly—critically responded to your research material. A long bibliography might look impressive, but if you are only citing one or two key texts over and over again, it is evident that you have not done much reading. Such a research project would not receive a very favorable mark, even with a twenty page bibliography.
Project Elements (ALL are required)
If you do not include ALL of the sections, it is unlikely that you will pass. I do not give extra points for doing really well on one section, and simply omitting another.
ALL sections must be researched and properly referenced (including #9).
Keep in mind that different elements will have different amounts of information, depending on the artefact. The section on ‘materials’ and ‘production’ are usually heavy, but should take up no more than 1/2 of the entire project (you may need to condense from CW2).
1) Introduction
2) Description
brief description of shape
Colour according to the Munsell chart,
Full list of dimensions
Details of all labels (if any)
Evaluation of present condition
Sketch and photograph as practiced
3) Materials
Detailed non-interpretive description of the material including type, size and quantity of inclusions
Clay type and fabric according to the Vienna System. Fully justify your choice.
Discussion of how material would have been acquired/collected and how it would have been prepared for potting
Discuss any methods you would like to use to confirm your hypothesis
4) Production
The purpose of this section is to reconstruct the entire Chaine Operatoire needed to produce the object
You should also discuss the likely context of production – who the producer was, professional/amateur, in a workshop, what the social status of the producer might have been etc.
5) Date of the piece
Here you should establish the date of the piece. Things you should consider: the technology used to produce the vessel; parallels from dated contexts or parallels dated by experts in publications; the archaeological context of the object – if this can be established.
6) Use/Function
how the object might have been used
what it might have contained
who might have used it
the contexts in which other parallel pieces have been found can be useful here…
7) Deposition and Rediscovery
Can you find out anything about where it was found (site, tomb)? Find out as much detailed information as you can about the circumstance of discovery (when, by whom)
Can you reconstruct the context of the object? Are there any other objects from the same context or wider area of the object that you can locate?
8) Reinterpretation and Current Reuse
how did it get to the Egypt Centre?
how does the way it can be displayed affect our interpretation of it?
discuss how it is displayed, and how YOU would display it. Why?
Are there any ethical issues that need to be discussed?
9) Conclusion
