Touching Archeology by Daniele Vitali (Université de Bourgogne) A tactile section at the museum of Monterenzio dedicated to people living with vision loss. |
I am pleased to conclude my thirty-year experience as
scientific director of the Luigi Fantini Archaeological Museum of
Monterenzio with this text requested by my friends at the Istituto
Francesco Cavazza in Bologna.
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The inauguration of the
tactile section of the museum is one of the last examples of the
inconvenient discretion of bureaucracy, but we went ahead anyway because
the outcomes interested us. What mattered was to be able to inaugurate a part that integrated the different itineraries of our museum, which essentially contains as is well-known the extraordinary material of Monte Bibele (setttlment, necropolis, sanctuary) and Monterenzio Vecchio (necropolis). Of the rare realities of our region where the 4th and the 3rd centuries B.C. are documented in an expectionally complete manner. If for a museum containing sculptures it is relatively simple to propose to people living with vision loss casts of works of art in marble or bronze (following the required ministry's authorizations!) the works of art to be touched and manipulated can weigh on the museum which protects in display cases everything that it presents... here the challenge is more complex. How to demonstrate the blade of a Celtic warrior's iron sword, misshaped by corrosion of 2,300 years ago, extremely fragile and untouchable because it is protected by a glass? A reconstruction done by an extraordinary craftsman (Vncenzo Pastorelli, Hephaestus, the patron of all craftsmen) who, with precise instructions of mine and other specialists, proposed measures, compared shapes, made trials until he was able to make a pointed two-edge blade identical to the blade of the 107 tomb. The same with the sheath made with two thin sheets of tens of millimetres with a pressure notch and a triangular metal point with fretwork and so on. A wooden shield with reinforcement done in a piece of iron, the lance, the javelin. In the future, such pieces of weapons could subsequently be enriched, who knows. Vincenzo used his forge, iron, hammer, white-hot bricks, the strength of his arms and knowledge to create a ready to be used weapon to strike with its edge and its point, light and fast, just like the one found on the warrior's 107 tomb, a man who died at the age of about 30 because his opponent was faster than him. Thanks also to Ilaria Raspadori who created an Etruscan mirror from the end of the 4th century similar to the one found on the 101 tomb. The mirror is engraved with scenes inspired by Homeric heroes, but it is the opposite part, which is convex, that reflects the images, somebody's face with details that are more nuanced than that of a modern mirror. Other friends of groups evoking the history of the Celts and Boi have then completed the pieces of furniture |
and the doors of
the Celtic-Etruscan settlement found in the museum's park. In the halls,
the intervals between showcases were filled with objects to touch,
selected among those found in the archaeology excavations, but unlike
them, almost newly fabricated: two strigils to clean the body of the
athletes like the Etruscan statues of the 5th and 4th centuries or like
Lisippo's Apoxyomenos (350-325 B.C.); the bronze mirror, classic of the
feminine world; the Celtic weapons; the hunting-spears and the firedogs
for cooking meat on the grill or with a spit; an iron candelabrum; a
series of bronze statues that represent the Etruscans' devotion towards a
source of water on Monte Bibele; a few ceramic vases and so on. The support of the friends of Cavazza has been to transfer into Braille the texts of captions in print and to make plans in raised lines on some of the tombs and in the Celtic-Etruscan settlement of Monte Bibele. An essential contribution because, oddly, these information tools were what mostly interested sighted visitors. To increase understanding and to make it easier to read the plan of the Celtic-Etruscan settlement, it was necessary to add to the essential part of the documentation relating to a dwelling on high ground to separate the groups of houses from the streets that delimit them, to draw attention to the large common cistern to the base of the building itself. Easy and efficient and without losing information. Various tests were done before reaching the best solution. Obviously, it can always be better but a stone was thrown and placed and it is possible that in the future everything can subsequently be improved, above all in anticipation of the enlargement of the exhibition areas. Renewed visibility should be given to the new discoveries to complete the presentation. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Mario Barbuto and Giovanni Cellucci for their efficiency, as well as to Vincenzo and Ilaria for their friendly and practical collaboration and to Nicola Bianca Fàbry for the coordination of the operation and the tangible help. To carry out the supports of the materials exhibited, we benefited from the backing of R.L. 18 Emilia-Romagna Region, so we thank the Province of Bologna, IBC and the Fondazione Carisbo for their precious contribution. |