CONVERSATIONS WITH MAGIC STONES
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 05/12/2020

Conversations with Magic Stones was a three year project devoted to the prehistoric stone tools of Orkney, and to similar objects from around the world that have found their way into the region over the years. Taking in material from the Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age, the project also explored the social history of collecting in Orkney, tracking how stone tools have been collecting people from prehistory down to the present. In this paper, we discuss how we developed the research as a resource for a variety of different communities. These ranged from a large website (orkneystonetools.org.uk) to exhibitions in art galleries and museums, public talks, and close collaboration with local schools. The project even produced it’s own Top Trumps style card pack - entitled ROCK STARS - which was given away to schools across the region. A key concern throughout was that we should explore the biographies of particular objects and assemblages right through to the present. Important in their own right, these more recent histories also created a context for reflection, about how stone tools were caught up in people’s lives in prehistory. In working across different settings, from museums and galleries to the classroom and the kitchen table, we found that the direct handling of material had a powerful influence on people’s responses to even the simplest of tools. The time spent handling objects also opened up a space for conversation, for the exchange of ideas about the entanglement of people and things.


Author(s): Anderson-Whymark, Hugo (National Museums Scotland) - Edmonds, Mark (University of York)