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Sculptor’s model relief of Akhenaten (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland)

In this issue:

News on the activities of the PalArch Foundation 2 Egypt in photographs (Z. Kosc) 4 Making practical use of morphology. Teaching human

anatomy as a dwindling educational resource and the call for more anatomically oriented

anthropologists and vertebrate palaeontologists (B.L. Beatty) 4

Proceedings of the first Annual Meeting of Dutch Vertebrate Palaeontologists, 10 December,

2004, Naturalis, Leiden, The Netherlands (H.J.M. Meijer) 6 Fleshing out the details (A. Smith) 7 The ancient Egyptian collection at the National of

Museums Scotland, Edinburgh (L.-A. Liddiard) 9 The future is wild (P. King) 15 Colophon 19

Edited by A.J. Veldmeijer, B.L. Beatty & A.M. Hense© 2004 PalArch Foundation

www.PalArch.nl Newsletter 2, 1 (2005)

News on the activities of the PalArch Foundation

Tuesday, 2 November 2004: a small

message in one of the Dutch Newspapers stated (translated):

Digital heritage. Libraries and scientific

organisations have to co-operate more closely to save digital scientific information. If not, according to the Dutch minister of Education, Culture and Science, the scientific digital heritage will become unavailable already in the near future. Often, this is one of the major concerns of scientists; will their digital (online) publication be available in the future. Indeed, this is the responsibility of libraries; they have to keep their libraries up to date. And in case of www.PalArch.nl publications, this should be no problem, since the publications are free to download in pdf format.

For more information see for instance http://www.minocw.nl/cultuurict/doc/2002/rapportIDE.PDF and http://www.minocw.nl/cultureelerfgoed/links.html.

Meetings

Past three months, representatives of the foundation presented a PalArch poster at the meeting of the Paleobiological Circle (see our Newsletter of October 2004). Also, a representative was present at a meeting of the Dutch Vertebrate Palaeontologists, of which a short account can be found elsewhere in this Newsletter.

Representatives of the Foundation will attend the Current Research VI Conference in Cambridge, England (6-8 January 2005).

News from the American Branch of the

PalArch Foundation’s division of vertebrate palaeontology

By B.L. Beatty

As the American Branch is in its infancy,

news of much significance is still slow to develop. The good news is that thanks to colleagues here in the US, the existence and details about PalArch is getting around. Already flyers are mailing all over the USA,

thanks to a number of colleagues at various institutions:

• New Mexico Museum of Natural History (thanks to Katrina Gobetz)

• American Museum of Natural History (thanks to Matthew Mihlbachler)

• LACM (thanks to Larry Barnes) • Smithsonian (thanks to Dave Bohaska) • FLMNH (thanks to Richard Hulbert) • UCMP (thanks to Nick Pyensen) • Yale (thanks to Brian Andres) • The George Washington University

(thanks to Alexandra de Sousa) • Northeastern Ohio College of Medicine

(thanks to J.G.M. Thewissen) Aside from this act of spreading the

word, there are a growing number of people here showing interest in making submissions to www.PalArch.nl in the near future. While some of this interest is centred on the University of Kansas due to word of mouth, my hopes are that some of the upcoming papers, such as one on dinosaur ootaxonomy, will attract an increased readership and stimulate submissions.

Publications in the January issue (provided

unforeseen circumstances)

Papers, www.PalArch.nl 1, archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology

Miatello, L. 2005. The design of the Snefru

pyramids at Dashur and the Netjerikhet pyramid at Saqqara. PalArch, series archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology.

The publication has been postponed due to absence of the author.

Papers, www.PalArch.nl 1, Vertebrate

palaeontology Drees, M. 2005. An evaluation of the Early

Pleistocene chronology of The Netherlands. PalArch, series vertebrate palaeontology 1, 1: 1-46.

Proceedings, www.PalArch.nl 1, 2

Roode, van, S.M. Ed. 2004. The PalArch

Foundation’s proceedings of the annual Flemish-Netherlands Egyptologists meeting 2004.

PalArch Foundation 2

http://www.palarch.nl/

http://www.minocw.nl/cultuurict/doc/2002/rapportIDE.PDF

http://www.minocw.nl/cultuurict/doc/2002/rapportIDE.PDF

http://www.minocw.nl/cultureelerfgoed/links.html

http://www.minocw.nl/cultureelerfgoed/links.html






PalArch Foundation’s centre of book reviews Anneart, R. 2005. Book review of: Effros, B.

2003. Merovingian mortuary archaeology and the making of the early Middle Ages. (Berkeley/Los Angeles/London, University of California Press, The transformation of the classical Heritage 35). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Bakels, C.C. 2005. Book review of: Evans, J.G. 2003. Environmental archaeology and the social order. (London/New York, Routledge). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Fagan, B.M. 2005. Book review of: Fitzhugh, B. 2003. The evolution of complex hunter-gatherers. Archaeological evidence from the North Pacific. (New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Heirbaut, E.N.A. Book review of: Burnham, B & H. Burnham. 2004. Dolaucothi-Pumsaint. Survey and excavations at a Roman gold-mining complex, 1987-1999. (Oxford, Oxbow Books). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Ikram, S. 2005. Book review of: Merriman, N. Ed. 2003. Public archaeology. (London/New York, Routledge). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Muhlestein, K.. 2005. Book review of: Meskell, L.M. & R.A. Joyce. 2003. Embodied lives. Figuring ancient Maya and Egyptian experience. (London/New York, Routledge). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Nollen, J. 2005. Book review of: Hamerow, H. 2004. Early Medieval settlements. The archaeology of rural communities in North-West Europe 400-900. (Oxford, Oxford University Press). – PalArch, non

scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Schulp, A.S. 2005. Book review of: Webber, R.P. 2003. The dinosaur films of Ray Harryhausen. Features, early 16 mm experiments and unrealized projects (Jefferson, McFarland & Company Inc. Publishers) – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Stevens, A.K. 2005. Book review of: Insoll, T. 2004. Archaeology, ritual, religion. (London, Routledge). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Smit, J. 2005. Book review of: Harries, P.J. Ed. 2003. High-resolution approaches in stratigraphic paleontology (Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers B.V., Topics in Geobiology 21). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm.

Vos, de, J. 2005. Book review of: Prothero, D.R. & R.M. Schoch. 2003. Horns, tusks, and flippers. The evolution of hoofed mammals. (Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).

Warmerdam, J. 2005. Book review of: Marshall, P. 2004. Europe’s lost civilization. Uncovering the mysteries of the megaliths. (London, Headline Book Publishing). – PalArch, non scientific (http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm).


http://www.palarch.nl/Non_scientific/bookreview.htm

























Egypt in photographs

By Z. Kosc

Two brothers, Egypt, Manazig, Eastern Desert. Photography by Z. Kosc © 2005 (See also: Ababda inthe desert,

http://puck.wolmail.nl/~kosc/Ababdadesert/desert1.html).

Making practical use of morphology. Teaching

human anatomy as a dwindling educational resource and the call for more anatomically

oriented anthropologists and vertebrate palaeontologists

By B.L. Beatty1

As anthropologists and palaeontologists, many of us have the distinct and often unpleasant experience of being classified as working in the ‘soft sciences’. Much of this denigration seems to be linked to the common misconception that morphology is antiquated and not rigorous. Before you take this the wrong way, rest assured that I consider myself a morphologist and that my personal

views of the benefits of morphology and anatomy are clearly in favour of its continued study. As we all know, morphology is far from all known: the sample of known interspecific and intraspecific morphological diversity is clearly far from complete. Still, despite what we may know of this need, it is clear that the general public and especially funding sources do not. This has resulted in an ever-increasing lack of jobs for morphologists. While this has possibly benefited the profession by introducing fierce competition for quality work, often quality is confused with popularity and rigor is sacrificed for optimising media attention rather than empiricism and science justified for the sake of understanding all life no matter its glory in our society.

1 Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, University of Kansas, Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Center, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045, Tel. (785) 864-3216, Fax (785) 864-5335, Email: [email protected]


But our skills as morphologists are not necessarily low in value, as many would suggest. Most of us need some sort of training in anatomy for our work. Most seem to make due with undergraduate courses or research experience. While this works for research, we all know that most jobs centre on teaching, and

mailto:[email protected]


we belong to a minority of people that care to know about the anatomy of this or that odd animal group. Humans, as anthropocentric as we are, have prioritised human anatomy over all other taxa and jobs are disproportionately distributed to reflect this bias.

According to numerous studies done by various groups dedicated to medical education, qualified teachers of human anatomy will be at a shortage all over the world, including the USA, The Netherlands, and elsewhere (Carmichael & Markwald, 2004; Mameren, 2004). This possible crisis is not merely a concern for the maintenance of a basic science, but one that is pivotal in the education of medical professionals that we all need. What I suggest is: capitalise on this need.

Yes, it is clear that many advisors gear their students toward teaching anatomy and that many of the positions for teaching anatomy are already currently held by morphologists (vertebrate palaeontologists and palaeo-anthropologists), but perhaps not enough. What I would suggest to all advisors and would-be morphologists is to make an effort to enroll in a rigorous medical gross anatomy course (with medical students). This may be less wise to do during your regular PhD time than to do as a MS in anatomy before the PhD in a more specialised field of research focussing on your taxa.

Possible benefits, aside from having a greater likelihood of being hired for teaching in a medical school, are numerous. Most obvious is that such an intense anatomical training opens one’s eyes to the vast array of morphology not commonly taught and virtually unknown for most vertebrate taxa, including many mammals. This alone has stimulated my own investigations into aspects of vertebrate evolution I had not thought to look into before. Plus, this sort of rigor and experience with intraspecific variation can only lead to a better sense of what variation is ‘normal’ and what is unique. Lastly, for functional morphologists especially, knowing the soft tissue effects on osteology can best be understood within this context, and the literature on functional anatomy of humans is so thoroughly worked over one can be fairly certain that error in methods is minimised.

With fierce competition among so many specialised directions of research in vertebrate palaeontology today, it is not surprising that many students start to focus on their respective research foci early on in their careers. While this is wise, I feel it behoves advisors to consider the future livelihood of their students and enable them to perform a function that is in demand. While positions exist for many of these narrow, focussed researchers, the vast majority of jobs are to be found in teaching at universities. With the growing scarcity of qualified anatomy instructors, it seems only logical that advisors push their students in this direction. With these concerns in mind, my aim is to suggest to all advisors and would-be graduate students of vertebrate palaeontology and palaeoanthropology to seriously consider undergoing the training of a human gross anatomist to enhance their own research and more importantly their prospect of getting a job that will ensure that morphology remains an active and living form of the sciences.

Cited literature Carmichael, S. & R. Markwald. 2004. Coalition

of American Societies for Anatomy. – The Anatomical Record (New Anatomist) 277B: 1.

Mameren, H.V. 2004. Source of future teachers of anatomy. – The Anatomical Record (New Anatomist) 280B: 4-5.



Proceedings of the first Annual Meeting of Dutch Vertebrate Palaeontologists, 10

December, 2004, Naturalis, Leiden, The Netherlands.

By H.J.M. Meijer

Present were: Paul Albers, Mark Drees,

Lars van den Hoek Ostende, Kees van Hooijdonk, Kees Hordijk, John Jagt, Charissa van Kooten, Paul Lambers, David Mayhew, Hanneke Meijer, Dick Mol, Eric Mulder, Noud Peters, Klaas Post, Barbara Reumer, Jelle Reumer, Charlie Schouwenburg, Anne Schulp, Paul Storm, André Veldmeijer, Hannie de Visser, John de Vos, Dees van Weers, Wilma Wessels, Erik Wijnker.

After the welcome by John de Vos, everybody gave a short introduction about their interests and expertise within the field of vertebrate palaeontology. Despite the lack of professional positions, a great diversity of working areas, both professional and semi-professional, was present within the attendees of this meeting, ranging from Miocene insectivores, fishes and mosasaurs to woolly mammoths and primitive turtles.

Although meetings of Dutch vertebrate palaeontologists were held before, mostly small meetings of people already familiar with each other, the purpose of this meeting was to put all the vertebrate palaeontologists in the Netherlands together to get to know each other and to encourage future collaboration.

Discussion

During the discussion led by Jelle

Reumer, several points were raised regarding the structure and future of the Dutch Vertebrate palaeontology.

As the field of vertebrate palaeontology in The Netherlands is undervalued and subject of ongoing budget cuts, actions should be taken to make sure that there will be a next generation of vertebrate palaeontologists. Therefore, it is of great importance that a clear course is established for the near future that will give direction to the palaeontological knowledge and expertise present at this time. Questions like ‘What do we want?’ and ‘Where do we go from here?’ are helpful tools to determine the goals of the Dutch Vertebrate

Palaeontology Group and should therefore be taken into account.

In addition, close collaboration with related groups in The Netherlands, such as the Palaeobiological Circle and the PalArch Foundation, is necessary to share information and perform interdisciplinary research. Suggested actions are:

• Website: a website will be built which contains information about the Dutch Vertebrate Palaeontology Group (people and ongoing research), news and upcoming events. This website will be linked to the website of the Palaeobiological Circle. This will be taken care of by Jan van Dam University of Utrecht.

• A (regular?) Newsletter will be sent to members of the DVP Group to inform them on the activities of the group. This will be taken care of by Jelle Reumer University of Utrecht.

The next meeting is planned following the spring meeting of the Palaeobiological Circle on April 15 & 16, 2005, in Maastricht.

De Hans de Bruijn Stichting was happy to announce that Jelle Reumer has accepted the chair of Special Lecturer in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Utrecht.

The afternoon program consisted of four lectures.

John Jagt. Vertebrate contemporaries of the Maastricthien mosasaurs

It is common knowledge that Maastricht

and the surrounding areas have yielded several mosasaur fossils. However, the Maastrichtien also contains various fossils from other marine and terrestrial vertebrates, such as several Osteichthians and Chondrichthians, plesiosaurs, non-avian dinosaurs, and birds. Recently, a group of mammals, formerly known only from the Americas, was found.

Anne Schulp. What did Carinodens eat? A smashing experiment.

Carinodens belgicus is the smallest and

most bizarre mosasaur known to mankind. The highly specialized tooth morphology suggests a remarkable diet. New finds of Carinodens and an experimental approach tell us more



about the table manners of this extraordinary Maastrichtien reptile. In ‘feeding’ experiments with an artificial mosasaur jaw, Carinodens appears to have been a durophagous mosasaur, capable of crushing small molluscs and arthropods, but its dietary habits may not necessarily have been limited to hard-shelled food.

Paul Lambers. Fossil fish and their stories.

The study of fish remains from the Upper

Jura yields new insights in the systematics and evolution of the large group of fish known as Teleostei. The fish fossils from Solnhofen, currently in the collection of Teylers Museum in Haarlem, are discussed here. Their cranial anatomy provides a good taxonomic tool. A good example is the secondary loss of the jaw joint which serves as a characteristic for the group of the Teleostei.

Eric Mulder. The Maastrichtien monster of

Loch Ness and a giant baby turtle. As a honorary employee of the

Maastricht Museum of Natural History, Eric Mulder is closely involved in the research on marine and terrestrial Cretaceous tetrapods of the Maastrichtien type. Several aspects of this project are discussed; e.g. the description of the sea turtle Allopleuron with its neotenic characteristics and some rare remains from Elasmosaurus are placed within a paleo-ecological perspective.

Fleshing out the details

By A. Smith

There they were, larger than life, magnificent creatures from another time and place... and they came back every Saturday morning. Yep, just like clockwork you could find me glued to the TV every Saturday morning watching “Land of the Lost”... did those people ever make it back home? Now looking back as an adult, the story line seems very hokey, but to a seven year old country boy it sparked a flame that rages on to this day: the love for dinosaurs.

I suppose that my interest in dinosaurs started way before the age of seven, but for the sake of a dramatic intro it seemed like a good place to start. Growing up on a wooded farm seven miles from nowhere in the middle of Missouri, I, as a young lad with only few friends, had little to do in the afternoons. So when I wasn’t knee deep in the creek I could be found with pencil and paper, recreating things that haunt a young mind with little else to do but to spend a lazy afternoon drawing. That’s where it all began for me, drawing anything and everything that I could think of but especially dinosaurs. My birthdays and Christmas’s were filled with paints, pencils, conté crayons, brushes and sketch pads. It seemed as though I had a talent for drawing anything that anyone else had already drawn with surprising accuracy, but nothing with any originality of my own; that was to come much later.

School seemed to fly by and I became accustomed to being the one that would be called on first to draw a picture and last to be picked for the baseball team (or any other sports venue that you could name). High

Sordes (© A. Smith).



school came and went and I settled into college with my mind set on a career in graphic design. It seems that if you are to support a family in the arts either you die and become famous or you go into a field that has a more practical application and I decided upon the latter. So the dinosaurs of my youth were relegated to the back of my imagination for a while…until some years later when time and finances would allow the luxury of a hobby.

That time finally came when I landed my second ‘real’ job. My new wife, Tiffany, and I were settling into our new lives together and work was going well and then it happened. My wife purchased a fossil fish for me as a Christmas gift to hang in my office; that led to more, and more, and still more purchases of fossil casts of every dinosaur and pterosaur that I could get my hands on. Finally, my office walls were totally covered in prehistory and there were no more casts to purchase (or walls to hang them on.)

Being surrounded by that many fossils on a daily basis has a way of getting to a guy. On my breaks I would wonder what the creatures looked like in real life, what they ate, how they interacted with one-another and so on. The next logical step was to try and purchase a few life size restorations; scaled down models just wouldn’t do. I wanted life-size and as real as you can get.

But here is one problem with that line of logic... have any of you priced life-size dinosaur models lately? They aren’t cheap! With that idea trashed I moved on to my next best option: to sculpt my own. It seems as though I have been very fortunate in that pursuit. I have been able to glean very good advice from sculptors that I admire very much, like Jerry Finney and Shane Foulkes and

Anurognathus (© A. Smith).

Quetzalcoatlus (© A. Smith). combined with the tricks that I had learned in my college sculpting and anatomy classes, I have enjoyed fairly popular success.

When choosing what creatures to recreate I often go with what I would like to have in my private collection, because ultimately I am my own worst client and I want my creatures to reflect a bit of my own personality. I approach my models kind of like a taxidermist: when finished I want it to look as if it has just been stuffed the real thing and mounted it in their den as their latest trophy. I want my viewers to fell that if they turn their backs on one of my creatures it is liable to do one of two things: attack or run away. My greatest reward is when I hear a young viewer tell his or her mom that they just know they saw the dinosaur blink!

If you take an inventory of my models to date, you’ll find that I have a taste for things that fly, from Bambi aptor to the smallest pterosaur Pterodactylus elegans and with the new discoveries from China it seems as though I will have enough species to keep my busy for quite so time to come.

r

If you haven’t had a chance to see any of my creatures, please be patient. I

Quetzalcoatlus, detail (© A. Smith).



have a few things in the works that are sure to make it to your neck of the woods in one way or another. One of my pterosaurs, Anurognathus, will be featured in a book by DK publishing due out in the fall, and all of my models are featured in a dinosaur show that travels to botanical gardens and zoos around the US (sorry for those of you outside the states, we haven’t gone international…yet!).

Don’t get me wrong though, sculpting ancient creatures hasn’t been all fun and games. It seems as though I have my best success when working directly from a cast of the fossil rather than photos and written descriptions. I have learned the hard way that when a palaeontologist graciously gives you advice on a creature’s proportions and features you’d better take it, no matter what the deadline or advice you may get from others. Because no matter how good the finished model looks, if it doesn’t match the skeletal information it’s just a really cool looking science fiction monster.

For those of you wondering, I still have my day job as an art director, at Triune Communications in St. Louis, Missouri and I teach college in the evenings to help make ends meet. But you can be assured that every spare moment I have I am fleshing out the details of my next creature, except for Saturday mornings because these are reserved for surfing the channels trying find those missing episodes of “Land of the Lost.”

Fossilsmith Studios www.fossilsmith.com

The ancient Egyptian collection at the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh

By L-A Liddiard

Background

The Main Hall of the Royal Museum (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).

The National Museums of Scotland operate over six sites that include The Museum of Scotland and The Royal Museum situated next to each other in Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Museum of Scotland, opened by HM The Queen on 30 November 1998, displays objects and specimens relating to all aspects of Scotland’s past. The Royal Museum holds the international collections of decorative art, the natural world and science and industry and it is here that the ancient Egyptian collection is housed and displayed. This important collection comprises around 5,600 items, ranging in date from the Predynastic to the Roman, Ptolemaic and Coptic periods. It includes statuary, mummies, coffins, furniture, fine jewellery and textiles.

The collection as it stands today is the result of an amalgamation in 1985 of two notable institutions with a long history of collecting. The Royal Scottish Museum


http://www.fossilsmith.com/


Predynastic decorated jar, A.1911.210.15 (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland)

(RSM) and the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) both held collections acquired mainly through archaeological excavations carried out during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Roman period mummy of a man with painted panel, A.1911.210.1 (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).

The Royal Scottish Museum

Cyril Aldred (by kind permission of the Aldred family).

The items held by the RSM had been given largely as a result of subscription to the Egypt Exploration Fund and the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, or through staff contribution to excavation work. Edwin Ward, a young RSM curator, worked beside Flinders Petrie at Giza and Rifeh between 1906 and 1907. Ward subsequently went on to hold the post of Director of the RSM between 1931 and 1934.

The late Cyril Aldred (1914-1991) who, until his retirement in 1974 held the post of Keeper of the Department of Art and


Statue of Ramesses IX, 20th Dynasty, A.1965.1 (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).


Alexander Henry Rhind, H.OD 7 (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).

Archaeology, was primarily responsible for the significant development of the RSM’s collection in more recent years. During this time, as well as producing a large body of major academic publications, he also instigated the establishment of the first permanent display of the RSM’s Egyptian collection.

In 1965, the RSM was also the beneficiaries of a large bequest of over 400 items, mainly ancient Egyptian, collected by the distinguished geologist Dr Charles Taylor Trechmann (1884-1964). One of the most interesting items in the bequest is a statue of the 20th Dynasty king Ramesses IX, bought by Trechmann in 1947. At the time of the sale it was being used as a prop to secure a tree branch in a display of stuffed birds! His collection of geological specimens was left to the Natural History Museum in London.

The National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland

NMAS was established in 1858 to house

the museum collections of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. The Society, founded in 1780, counted among its members the renowned Egyptologist Alexander Henry Rhind (1833-1863) who donated many items collected during fieldwork in Thebes and Giza

between 1855 and 1857. Rhind also bequeathed a sum of money in his will to found The Rhind Lectureship that began in Edinburgh in 1874 and still continues today.

In later years, NMAS limited itself to acquiring material relating specifically to Scottish material culture and thus in 1939 their collection of Egyptian material was loaned to the RSM on a long term basis, until being transferred permanently in 1954. Ironically, the transfer was consequently rendered unnecessary as in 1985 the NMAS and the RSM and their respective collections were merged into one institution, thereafter known as the National Museums of Scotland.

Gallery display

At present, approximately 1000 pieces from the collection are on permanent display in a recently refurbished gallery (February 2003) on the first floor of the Royal Museum building.

Ancient Egypt is a popular topic chosen by Scottish schools to study as part of the 5-14 curriculum in Environmental Studies. In planning the redisplay the project team identified the main target audience as school children aged 7-8. Thus the displays have been organised and the text written in a specific way to appeal to this particular audience, with the aim of fulfilling the desired attainment outcomes as recommended in the curriculum guidelines. An integral part of any school’s visit is the use of the Ancient Egypt Handling Box on the gallery. The box, shaped like an ancient Egyptian coffin, provides children with a valuable opportunity to handle authentic ancient objects from Egypt. They can also pretend to be an Egyptian by dressing up in replica costume.

The gallery is arranged in a square around a void in the centre where visitors can look down to the galleries below. It is divided into two distinct areas: Life in Ancient Egypt, arranged around two sides of the square and Death and the Afterlife, arranged around the other two sides. Each area is then further divided into smaller sub-sections that deal with relevant topics. In the case of the Life area, the family, home, food, work, religion and war are just some of the topics discussed. The second area explores subjects like mummification (human and animal), tomb equipment and



Model of a sculptor’s workshop (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland). coffins. Four models of everyday scenes, among which one of a sculptor workshop, have been placed in those areas where they are most relevant and are referred to in the main body of the text.

The text has simple storylines, with additional information supplied in the individual object labels. The word count has been kept short. Specific terms that are commonplace to specialists have been substituted with more understandable words. Where this was not possible, they have been explained in more detail. Methods have been employed to engage the reader, using direct voice (you and we), active constructions and introducing questions to encourage participation.

From the outset it was decided that colour would be a key feature of the new gallery, the aim being to echo the vividness and splendour of Egypt itself. The columns within each case are painted in a rich gold, set against the glorious deep blue of the text banners, labels and original architectural

Interior of ancient Egypt gallery (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).

columns. The case exteriors are bordered in turquoise, the whole scheme complementing the main exterior walls, finished in terracotta.

Some highlights of the NMS collection

In 1909, RSM were offered a complete

17th Dynasty burial group excavated by Flinders Petrie in 1908 at Qurna near Thebes. The group consists of the two wooden coffins of a woman and child, their mummies (unwrapped by Petrie at the time of excavation), as well as a rich assemblage of jewellery, pottery, furniture and food. Petrie’s published account of his excavation includes a detailed description of the objects and many original excavation photographs. The significance of the group however was largely neglected until 1996, when as part of the interdisciplinary NMS Mummy Project, it was studied in more detail by specialists, both from within NMS and outside, in other notable institutions. The most exciting aspect that has emerged is that the Qurna group may represent a previously unrecognised royal burial. Unfortunately, NMS cannot yet identify who the mystery queen might be – the area on her coffin where her name should be is missing. However, more work is planned as part of the ongoing project to attempt to find out who she might have been, her ethnic origin and her relationship to the child.

In 1857, Alexander Rhind acquired a unique double coffin dating to the late 2nd/early 3rd century AD in Thebes, which contained the bodies of two children. One of the children, a



Petrie’s original excavation picture, showing the Qurna burial in situ (by kind permission of the Petrie Museum).

Double coffin of two chi dren, acquired by A H Rhind in 1857, A.1956.357&A (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).

l

Interior of double coffin, A.1956.357 (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).

boy, had already been unwrapped. For many years, as the children had been put together in one coffin, it was assumed that they were twins. However, after Dr Bill Manley, a Research Associate of the Dept. of History and Applied Art of the NMS, studied the papyri accompanying the children, he was able to confirm that the children were not twins. They were in fact half-brothers – they probably had the same father but different mothers. Other scientific research has also concluded that the unwrapped child was about 9 months old at death whilst the wrapped child was 18 to 20 months old. They possibly both contracted the same illness and died at around the same time.

Sculptor’s model relief of King Akhenaten, 18 th

Dynasty, A.1969.377 (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).



Sphinx of King Merenre I, 6th Dynasty, A.1984.405 (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).

Cyril Aldred acquired the exceptional object, which shows the unmistakable profile of the 18th Dynasty king Akhenaten, in 1969. It was produced by a master sculptor and used as a model to be copied by his apprentices in the studio or at a work site. The method he used to produce the intricate pattern of circles on Akhenaten’s crown has been demonstrated at the bottom right. A cord would probably have been threaded through the hole for carrying.

Acquired in 1984, the exquisite object of a sphinx with the head of the 6th Dynasty king Merenre I holding an offering pot in each hand, measures only 33 mm high. It is maybe the earliest known example of a sphinx with human arms.

The mummy portrait of a young woman was excavated by Flinders Petrie at Hawara in 1911. It dates to 110-30AD and shows a woman with elaborately dressed hair, wearing an assortment of fine jewellery. In his notebook, recording his excavation, Petrie refers to her as ‘The Jewellery Girl’.

Roman period mummy portrait of a young woman ‘The Jewellery Girl’’, A.1951.160 (© Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland).



The future is wild “A stunning glimpse into the future of the

planet … A thrilling biology lesson” (Media Aktoell, Germany, March 03)

By P. King2

Introduction

‘The future is wild’ is a natural history

documentary series of the future that was launched worldwide in 2002.3

The programmes are available in two formats:

• A series of 3 one hours, with one

programme each for 5 million, 100 million and 200 million years hence.

2 Marketing director & education co-ordinator [email protected] 3 It has won the following International Awards NEW YORK Festival 2004: The Future is Wild (Animate Skits) - SILVER WORLD MEDAL STATUS; EKOFILM Festival 2003, Czech Republic: FIRST PRIZE for the best scientific programme; Wildscreen 2003: PANDA AWARD; The Future is Wild: Waterland...100 million years in the future was nominated as a Festival Finalist; The 26th International Wildlife Film Festival, Montana, 2003: An Honourable Mention for graphics to John Adams for The Future is Wild, An Honourable Mention for Innovative Storytelling to John Adams for Cold Kansas Desert; Recommended finalist at Jackson Hole 2003; Finalist at ECOTOP 2003 in Bratislava; Future is Wild Part 3 - Finalist in the Japanese Wildlife Festival 2003.

• A series of 13 half hours, with four programmes for each of the time periods of 5 million, 100 million and 200 million years in the future, each programme covering a different part of those worlds; their forests, seas, deserts, etc. plus an introductory programme.

The programmes are also available to

buy on DVD & video. Supporting the programmes are two books.

‘The future is wild’ tells the story of the future of our planet through three eras and 12 extraordinary habitats. The academic research is translated into popular science for a family audience by Dougal Dixon. Astonishing digital illustration shows us the creatures of the future hunting, scavenging, browsing, and nestling in settings that appear completely real. This family reference book ‘The future is wild’ is published in September 2004 by Dorling Kindersley (ISBN number 1405309040).

‘The wild world of the future’ is written for 8 to 12 year olds. The opening chapters introduce the science of evolution and the methods the academics use to forecast habitats and the wildlife of the future. The principal sections of the book cover in detail the natural history of the major creatures. This book is published by Firefly Books ISBN number 1-55297-727-7.

When ‘The future is wild’ was shown in the US, it doubled the previous record ratings for the Animal Planet Channel, owned by the Discovery Communications cable giant. To date, the series has been sold in over 60 countries worldwide and published into 14 languages.

“It’s entertaining and stimulating, but it’s also educational. We did a presentation to head teachers and they loved it because it’s inspiring for the kids. It is not only public service broadcasting, it is what television should be about. We now have secondary schools actively using ‘The future is wild’ across the curriculum, not just in science but in maths, geography, English, drama, IT and art.”


In education we are looking at introducing our material to be used in schools. We are designing lesson plans for Key Stage 2 and 3; producing informative wall charts and timelines for primary class rooms and



And what might live in these extraordinary new environments? Huge predatory insects, like those that evolved in the Carboniferous. Four-winged birds that can drift

Shagrats, living on our planet over 5 million years.

launching our own education website under www.thefutureiswild.com.

The story of ‘The future is wild’

Are your children talking about

megasquid, poggles and spinks? If they are not, they soon will be. An amazing new series on BBC2 this September is introducing them to the future. Imagine ‘Walking with dinosaurs’ projected forward millions of years. It shows them the creatures that could be ruling the earth in five, a hundred and two hundred million years. Fiction? Of course, but scientifically accurate down to the last hair, scale and feather.

The blue windrunner, perhaps living over 100 million years.

over the new mountain ranges. And highly organised spiders that can farm and live off the last of the fading mammals. We do not know this, of course. But each plant and animal in ‘The future is wild’ is backed by the maths and the science that say it could exist, and it would look like this, and live like this.

For 150 million years, the mammals have been the most spectacular of the land animals. Now their place is gradually being taken by other creatures that can invade and inhabit the land, just as our ancestors once did. The intelligent cephalopods, squid and octopus, take the lead in all this. And the tree-dwelling squibbon is beginning to develop sophisticated communication and society.

What has this to do with science? These organisms are adapted to their habitats. They have life cycles. They belong in food chains. They are interdependent, and most dependent on green plants, too. They move, respire, feed and reproduce. They have all the characteristics of the ever-popular dinosaur but with one exception. When you imagine future animals, there are no boundaries. Children can create their own creatures, devise their lifestyle and describe their behaviour. The sky is the limit.

‘The future is wild’ delivers important information that is educational and compelling, both complex and entertaining always centering on the three fundamental organising principles:

• The behaviour of individual organisms reflects their attempts to survive in response to the demands of a given

Megasquid, dweller of a world over 200 million years?


http://www.thefutureiswild.com/


environment • Evolution produces adaptation over

generations • Different types of questions

necessitate different types of investigations

‘The future is wild’ brings to life the natural world yet to come. Over 40 creatures and twelve distinct habitats have been created; the creatures are credible, educational and cross all media. Throughout the series there are animations showing how the creatures evolved, taking into account their new habitats.

‘The future is wild’ brought together a team of 16 scientists from top institutions around the world, all experts in various aspects of geology, climatology and biology and together they created one possible vision for the future: world and how it may look in 5 million, 100 million and 200 million years. As a result a world was developed that was as rich as any fantasy could be, but still containing the scientific requirements to possess the look of reality.

The following text has been taken from the introduction to the book ‘The future is wild’, written by Professor R. McNeill Alexander, who is a specialist in biomechanics, the study of animal movement. He has provided invaluable help and advice on many of the aspects of the animals and habitats featured in ‘The future is wild’ series and he is our science advisor.

“We began by imagining how earth’s continents might be distributed in the future. For this, we called on an earth scientist. By studying rock magnetism, earth scientists have discovered how, over the past several hundred million years, the continents have slowly moved, regrouped and crushed together to form mountain ranges. There have been no sudden changes of direction in these movements, and our consultant expects them to continue more or less as our future world maps show. The position of landmasses and mountains also determine the climates of the future. By studying the world maps, a climatologist was able to deduce the climates of our future habitats.

We have done our best to ensure that the plants and animals of our future worlds are viable, and could evolve from existing species in the time available. Our team of biologists have suggested many remarkable possibilities,

such as the megasquid, a giant terrestrial squid living in the Northern Forest 200 million years from now. This animal is the result of detailed advice and calculations from an expert in squids and a specialist in biomechanics”

5 million years

Five million years after the Human era,

much of North America and Northern Europe are covered by ice. The only ice-free regions are the arid North American Desert and the broad tundra of Northern Europe. Africa, Europe and Asia are slowly moving together. This convergence, and falling sea levels, have caused the Mediterranean Sea to dry up. In South America the Amazon rainforest has disappeared, leaving a region of dry grasslands.

“Ice ages are huge perturbations to the natural system. As earth becomes covered by ice, life is compressed towards the equator, and earth’s habitable area is vastly reduced. The climate changes immensely, so that organisms find themselves driven to extinction simply because it gets too cold and there’s no place they can retreat to. An Ice age is a major transition in the history of life” says Professor Bruce Tiffney, Palaeobotanist, University of California.

The movie ‘The day after tomorrow’ is a great example for children that shows the extreme weather conditions with fantastic visual effects. In ‘The Future is Wild’ this process takes 5 million years not 2 weeks Hollywood style.

100 million years

In 100 million years the icecaps have

melted, causing sea levels to rise and covering



much of the planet in shallow seas. Australia has collided with Asia, forcing up a huge mountain range between the two continents. Antarctica has moved north, its climate becoming warmer as it drifted into more temperate zones. Part of Africa has split from the rest of the continent and travelled eastwards across the ocean, eventually becoming fused to the southernmost tip of Asia.

“For millions of years since the last Ice Age, earth has enjoyed a warm, stable climate. Under such benign conditions, organisms can start to diversify and spread out, becoming extremely well adapted to particular niches where they fit in ‘just so’. With no sudden environmental or climatic changes to spur sudden evolutionary change, the world becomes full of highly specialised organisms” according to Professor Bruce Tiffney.

200 million years

Slowly the great continental masses of

the Human era have become one, forming a giant supercontinent, or Pangaea II. What was once Africa has turned and fused to the southernmost tip of Asia. Australia long ago moved north and collided with the southerneastern edge of Asia and Antarctica

subsequently followed it into the gap. North and South America have swung to the east, squeezing the oceans out of existence, and sealing in the rest of the landmass.

“We can be reasonably confident that, 200 million years in the future, the continents will once again come together to form one supercontinent, surrounded by one ocean. The formation of supercontinents tends to have an enormous influence upon the weather patterns of the globe. It creates a globe of extremes” said Professor Bruce Tiffney. “Scientists believe that over 200 million years all the continents will move together into one big landmass, so Antarctica will move nearer to the equator and turn into rainforest” said John Adams, the independent producer who devised the concept seven years ago.

There have been two amazing discoveries that confirm the scientific thinking behind the series since the scientists worked on the series.

The fossil of a Microraptor, a feathered dinosaur which has its hind legs as well as its fore legs modified to form wings was found in China. It is small but the leg wings are a very nice confirmation of the windrunner’s feasibility. The great blue windrunner lives in 200 million years and spends most of its life on the wing flying high over the Great Plateau of North America. There are descriptions of it in New Scientist (25 January 2003) and Nature (volume 421 page 335)

The fossil of the Phoberomys, a rodent as big as a buffalo, is very similar to the shagrat found recently in Upper Miocene rocks in Venezuela and shows that this rodent must have weighed about 700 kg as much as a buffalo has been. ‘The future is wild’ shagrat roamed the North European Ice in five million years hence. There is an article written by Professor R. McNeill Alexander in Science September 19th 2003 Vol. 301 entitled ‘Prespectives: Evolution.’



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Proceedings of the first Annual Meeting of Dutch The PalArch … · 2009-06-04 · Horns, tusks,...

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