A Guide to

Looking

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Researching Objects
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Peabody Museum of
Archaeology and Ethnology

From the Department of Academic Partnerships

2 Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology

Introduction

Museum collections are primary sources, offering n Inside, you will find suggestions of questions to
first-hand testimony from peoples and places in ask of an object, to help you draw connections
various moments of time. The information they between its physical qualities and your initial
provide affords us insights into the cultures or interpretations, and to help you formulate new
people who variously made, owned, preserved, avenues of inquiry.
and interpreted them. n Your research on objects will also include ex-
amining documents at the Peabody Museum, as
The Peabody Museum houses more than 1.2 mil- well as in University libraries. There are numer-
lion individual objects, including archaeological, ous textual sources at the Museum to examine,
ethnological, and osteological collections, as well including accession files, accession cards, ledger
as 500,000 photographic images, and substantial books, and other associated archival docu-
archival records. ments and photographs. Not all of the object
collections have associated documentation, but
This guide will help you get started with your please ask so that you may review all potential
object research at the Peabody Museum, and is textual sources with Peabody staff.
intended for use with archaeological and ethno-
logical collections. This guide is also intended to help you locate your-
self in your research – much as you would when
n In other courses, you have perhaps become doing a close reading of archival or secondary
familiar with close, critical readings of texts sources – to help you to articulate the associations
and the attention that must be paid to context, on which you are building your interpretation.
authorship, and audience. Looking at objects,
however, incorporates some different skills. n An object will provide different information
This guide will walk you through the process of depending on the questions you ask of it, as
looking at anthropological objects. viewed from different perspectives. Under-
standing yourself in your research process will
allow you to gain from those perspectives and
expand the possible meanings you may discov-
er, as you learn from the peoples and cultures
represented by or associated with an object.
 A Guide to Looking 3

Basic procedures

1. Looking is your starting point. Observations 4. Spend as much time as possible with the object.
should prompt questions, connections, and Consider drawing your object; it will help you
further research. discover more detail. Use photography only as
2. Focus on the object. Ask simple, straightfor- an aid to memory.
ward questions based on what you see. 5. Review associated Peabody Museum documen-
3. Consider the object on its own, and in its own tation. Depending on the object, these may
right. Save interpretations for later. include accession and/or catalogue cards, led-
ger entries, accession files, or archival materials.

Camel saddle, 975-32-50/11927

Tuareg, Algeria
Wood, metal, leather,
animal pelt, hide, pigment
This saddle, cheetah-skin saddle
cloth, and matching saddle bag (not
pictured) belonged to Moussa ag
Amestan, chief of Kel Ahaggar, during
World War I and the Saharan uprising.
4 Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology

Step 1 Describe the Object

Description Interpretation
What is the size and shape of the object? Does the object have a top and bottom?
What is it made of? A front and back?
Is it decorated? How can you tell?
What colors do you see? What crafts, skills, or technologies were re-
Are there any designs? quired to produce it?
Are they systematic or random? How do you think it was used?
Is it made of several parts? Where or how was it held or worn?
Would it have been used by itself?
Use Could it be part of something else?
Do you see evidence of the object’s use? Do you think it has been repaired?
Is it worn, broken, or burnt? If yes, when do you think this occurred?
Has it been repaired?
Has it been mounted, as for a museum
exhibit?
Is anything missing?
Would it look different if it were in use?

Fibula, 40-77-40/10927
Vinicia, Slovenia
Late Iron Age
Bronze
Used to fasten and adorn clothing. Excavated by
Duchess Marie Friedrich of Mecklenburg.

What materials are present?

Was the metal cast using molds?
Was it hammered?
Are the beads uniform in size and shape?
What colors are present? Is there evidence these
colors have changed over time?
Does anything seem missing?
How might this have looked in use? Would e
verything have been visible?
How might this have moved when in use?
Would it have made noise?
 A Guide to Looking 5

Step 2 Think about the Object

What is/was it? Maker and User

What do you think the object is? Who do you think made the object?
What do you think the designs or deco- Was the maker the same as the user?
rations depict or reference? If not, in what ways was the maker different
When/why do you think it would have from the user?
been made or used? Different skills, status, or gender?
In what season? Where do you think the maker/user was from?
For what occasion(s)? Did the maker /user need specialized knowl-
Is this type of object used today? edge?
How long do you think it took to make?
For how long do you think it would be used?
Would it be readily replaced, or carefully
protected?

Connections
Does the object display materials, designs,
or motifs from multiple locations?
How do you think it was used or valued by
different communities and/or individuals?
How do you think it came to be in the Peabody
Museum?

Side-fold dress, 99-12-10/53047

Central Plains, Lakota or Cheyenne
ca. 1800–1825
Elk hide, dyed and undyed porcupine quills, dyed bird quills, gilt
brass buttons, cowrie shells, glass beads, tin-plated sheet-iron
tinklers, horsehair, plant fiber, woven cotton tape, wool cloth,
sinew, glue sizing, pigments
Long attributed to the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804–1806,
recent research suggests that this dress was probably acquired by
Lt. George C Hutter in 1828–1830.

Glass beads, metal buttons, cowrie shells: what networks of ex-

change could have brought these to the Plains?
Would every Lakota or Cheyenne woman have had access to these
materials? In such quantities?
6 Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology

Step 3 Think about Yourself

Personal connections and perceptions Reflections

How are you responding to the object? Were you previously familiar with this object,
Can you articulate or explain this response? or this kind of object?
Where are your eyes drawn? What is the source of this familiarity?
Where are your thoughts drawn? What experiences are you drawing on to under-
Does the size or scale of the object affect how stand or interpret the object?
you feel? What does it remind you of from your
What surprises you about the object? own life?
What surprises you about your response to What bodies of knowledge or theory are you
the object? applying to understand your object?
What does it recall from other histories?
What might you be taking for granted as you
make your interpretations?
If you don’t take this for granted, can you find
alternative interpretations?
What cultural or social issues does it raise for
you?
How do you address those?

2015.0.41.4
Peabody Museum staff and
researchers examining an
Alutiiq baidarka (03-40-
10/62812), or three-hatch
kayak, from Kodiak Island.
Part of a 2011 Save America’s
Treasures grant, allowing for the
study and conservation of over
100 Alutiiq items in the Peabody
Museum’s collections. Conduct-
ed in collaboration with Alaska’s
Alutiiq Museum.
 A Guide to Looking 7

Some Final Thoughts

As you conduct your object research, you will Awareness of your own emotions, reactions, in-
contextualize it through consideration of other terests, and concerns as you conduct your analysis
primary sources, such as the Peabody Museum’s is a part of your research. It allows you to question
associated documentation, or perhaps through your subjectivity; to locate and test your assump-
comparison with other similar objects. You will tions; and to see your perspective as one of many.
build your understanding of it through study of Your goal is not to speak for the object, or for the
secondary and tertiary sources. peoples or cultures an object may represent, but
to place yourself in your experience of research.
Remember that context impacts interpretations Doing so will better position you to recognize the
of an object; they will change over time, and vary experiences and perspectives of others, to hear
between places. their voices, and so contribute to the sharing of
their stories.
Do not leave yourself out of these considerations.
You, too, are part of the context that will decide
what story your object has to tell, as you help to
tell it.

Front cover
Dog head effigy vessel, 92-49-20/C183
Maya; Copan, Honduras; Ceramic, pigment
Possibly used as an artist’s palette.

Copyright © 2016 The President and Fellows of Harvard College