Making faces

This week two of the human skulls at Buxton Museum were scanned to see if these faces from the past can be reconstructed. This will help us tell their story in the new Wonders of the Peak gallery. One skull is of a young person found at Fin Cop Iron Age hillfort, dating from around 300 BCE. The second skull belongs to a man buried around 2000 years earlier at Liffs Low.

The scanning was carried out by Mark Roughley and Dr. Eilidh Ferguson from Face Lab Research Group at Liverpool John Moores University and it was absolutely fascinating watching them work.

Mark and Eilidh make an initial assessment of the material.

The research group at Face Lab provides expertise in analysing the bones of the skull and face. They use it to identify bodies in forensic investigation, and to make archaeological images of historical figures. Mark has a background in medical illustration and Eilidh in forensic anthropology and they were able to explain brilliantly what they were doing and why, and what we could learn about people from looking at their skulls.

First the bones were inspected to see which parts needed to be scanned. Some of the remains were fragmented, but Eilidh could identify whether they were relevant and she helped us identify some unknown parts.

Eilidh identifying some of the fragments as parts of the hand.

For example, some of the fragments stored with the skull were actually parts of the hand, so we re-labelled their packaging accordingly. Mark and Eilidh then set to work – Mark scanning each part in turn and Eilidh carefully photographing them for later reference back in the lab.

The Artec Space Spider hand-held scanner looked rather like a steam iron!

The image above shows Mark scanning and Eilidh working at our photography area in the Project Space watched by Collections Assistant Dave and volunteer Cynthia.

An image was built up as Mark moved the scanner back and forth round the skull.

The scanning was done in our public Project Space, so visitors could see what was going on and we could explain about the project.

Eilidh photographs the Liffs Low skull.

The Fin Cop skull is relatively complete and has not yet been on display. The Liffs Low skull is part of a complete skeleton which has been displayed in a reconstructed burial. Using a hand held scanner meant it was disturbed as little as possible. We’re hoping there’s enough of this skull to make a reconstruction, but it is quite fragmented with some of the key central part of the face missing. Mark and Eilidh will put all the pieces together digitally to create a more complete image of the skull and hopefully visitors to the new gallery will be able to meet these early Peak District people face to face!

The BIG Project Update – 2016!

It’s been almost a year since we announced that our Stage 2 bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund had been successful. We were faced with the both the joy and the horror of having to actually do the extensive list of work and activities that we’d set out in the bid!

After a slow start doing all the necessary recruiting, planning and procuring, things are really starting to gather pace. So it’s the perfect time to update all of our friends, partners and followers about where we’re at.

As some of you might know, the project has two goals – the refurbishment of the Wonders of the Peak gallery, and the extension of museum content online and into the landscape.

1. Wonders of the Peak

The old gallery is now officially closed and is currently being decanted into the Project Space. This means the collections are undergoing a rigorous process of condition checking, photography and packing.

Empty cases? Acid-free tissue? The gallery decant has begun!

Meanwhile we’re working with our partners and designers to agree the concept design for the all-new Wonders of the Peak. Curators are also getting in touch with partner museums and institutions about some star loan objects. In some cases this means bringing Derbyshire objects home for first time since their discovery.

As the gallery work progresses you can visit and talk us in the Project Space, which is now open, but there’s more on that below…

2. Digital Access

In the project bid we imagined two types of digital access. ‘Pocket Wonders’ were phone and tablet friendly and could be accessed from the landscape. ‘Armchair Wonders’ would be accessed from home, and give more depth and detail to the collections.

Working with our digital designer, it’s clear that our online solution will be much more flexible than the two choices outlined above. The ‘digital experience’ will be an intuitive website that gives you different levels and types of content based the your situation and preferences. For example, where are you? What type of device are you using? How much internet connectivity do you have? Have you visited before and, if so, what have you already told us interests you?

From this, and similar information, you will be able to find out about the collections you are interested in, and plan your own journey into the Derbyshire landscape.

This solution will offer both the ‘Pocket Wonder’ and ‘Armchair Wonder’ concepts we’d originally imagined, but also offer a whole ranges of experiences in between.

And yes, there will be downloadable content. If you’ve ever tried to use a mobile phone in Dovedale then you’ll know why this is so important…

But the online news doesn’t stop there. We’re also going to be launching and testing an online catalogue for our website. So everyone from the curious web surfer to academic researchers can search an ever-increasing collections database. As we iron out the creases, more and more data from our museum documentation  database (Modes) will be available to search online, or be downloaded and used as open data (under a Creative Commons BY-NC license).

The Project Space

The Project Space in all its glory.

Finally, we can’t wait to welcome you to the Project Space, an area where visitors can see some of our amazing collections, find out more about the project, and meet the team face-to-face. We’re really interested to hear your views on a range of subjects and to get your feedback on the work we’re doing.

The Project Space will open to the public on 16 February, with free half-term family activities all week. It will be open until September 2017 – hosting a range of activities for you to join in with. Keep in touch with us through our Facebook or Twitter for more information, or sign up to our mailing list.

Who’s Who

In the last 12 months we have recruited staff and volunteers and a team of specialists to help deliver the project. We are pleased to be working with:

Project Managers – Rex Proctor & Partners

Gallery Designers – Redman Design

Digital Designer – Ben Bedwell (Digital Economy Consultants Ltd, in partnership with the University of Nottingham Horizon Digital Economy Research Hub)

Copy Editor – Pete Brown

Project Evaluators – Innovate Educate

Marketing Plan – Jen Francis

Workshop Facilitator – Gordon Maclellan (Creeping Toad)

Artists in Residence – Kidology

Education Specialist – currently recruiting

HLF Monitor – Janince Bowman

HLF Mentor – Fiona Marshall

…as well as our many partners and supporters.

 

 

 

 

Visions of the Past

I’m pleased to introduce David Carmichael, one of the project’s new Collection Assistants. Here, Dave takes a look at the project through fresh eyes, and reminds us all why we’re undertaking Collections in the Landscape…

It was with feelings of trepidation and excitement that I entered the green doors of Buxton Museum and Art Gallery to begin my first day of work as Collection Assistant. Trepidation, because I was aware of the mammoth task (forgive the pun!) which lay ahead of us in transforming the museum upper gallery into a permanent exhibition fit for a 21^st century audience and, perhaps, beyond. Excitement, because the Buxton Museum Collection is a vast melting pot of archaeology, culture, art, history, geology, biology, the ‘just plain weird’ and plenty of, as yet, undiscovered facts and revelations, with which I was keen to get to grips.

There is something for everyone in this amazing collection: from prehistoric mammoth jawbones and Peak District hill-tribe weapons of war, to the living biology of the landscape, cocooned in the brachiopods, that inhabited the sea which covered the Peak District millions upon millions of years ago. Or, if archaeology and history are not your thing, the beautifully rendered artworks of local painters and sculptors, capturing the monumental and immeasurable rawness of the Derbyshire and Peak District landscape are on regular display.

Dave – hard at work already!

Collections in the Landscape is the overall name of the project we are undertaking and my first task is to research and identify objects of interest relating to the ancient Iron Age and Roman Fort of Melandra; situated just above Glossop. These objects of interest will, in turn, be used to plan a walking trail to, and around, Melandra, that can be accessed as a mobile phone app or online.  And, so it was that as I opened my first acid-free archive box and carefully delved into its contents; hundreds of uncategorised pieces of Roman Grey-ware pottery sherds, that trepidation turned to exhilaration as I realised that we were on a journey. A journey through history and time that will be realised, but not end, in 2017.  Who could fail to be inspired?

David Carmichael

Online Platforms

The Collections in the Landscape project has been all about getting the museum’s collection online, accessible and available in the landscape. The main platform for this is www.buxtonmuseumapps.com but we have also been using other digital platforms to showcase the collections and the work we are doing. I have been busy collating all this information for our Stage 2 application and thought it would be interesting to share some of our discoveries.

Since the beginning of the project, the Collections in the Landscape blog has been the main portal for all of the project content and news. It has also pulled together all of the museum’s social media feeds, which is great because only Facebook features on the main museum website. It has a small but loyal audience, that is growing slowly but steadily, and is actually a great way to disseminate project news to other members of staff.

A good way to communicate quickly with other museum professionals

 

The museum joined Twitter in October. We have grown to love twitter but we have all found out that it takes a lot of work to make it a success (and there are five of us!). We began by expanding our audience with #FossilFridays and other hashtags, and we also publicise events and exhibitions on there. To our surprise, the main audience for the Twitter feed is other museums and museum professionals. This means it is a great resource for professional enquiries, publicising our work and seeing what others museums are up to. The downside of this is that posted links do not get as much attention as on sites like Facebook. Nevertheless, Twitter is a really useful platform and having that immediate connection to other museums is a great way to boost our profile and showcase our work, even if it isn’t in the way we originally expected.

Great for displaying good quality images, but how visitors use it is a mystery

 

Flickr is one of the online dinosaurs. Unlike other platforms, you do not have access to your visitor figures, so we have no idea if anyone actually looks at it or not! It is, however, very useful for our purpose and a lot of museums still use it. It offers us a platform to showcase the museum’s collections with high-quality images and any member of staff can easily update and change it. The main issue with Flickr is copyright. Using the site has made us consider the importance of the museum’s digital assets, as well the physical collections, which hadn’t previously been given much thought. If you have visited our Flickr site we would be interested to know what you thought.

It’s purple and popular

 

The main museum website still takes the bulk of the online visitor figures and is the site we know the most about. The figures show trends that we wouldn’t have thought about; for instance, we get huge spikes in traffic during school holidays. It is also interesting to see how people are reaching the site. Many people search for us directly, or already know where they are going, but one of the biggest referral sites is daysoutwiththekids.co.uk, which we didn’t know about. This shows the importance of having a good hub website where other online projects link to (at the moment there is only a link to Facebook). We are really keen on developing the museum’s website further and, in partnership with the council’s IT team, are in the process of getting some of the collection records online. We are also thinking about making more Collections pages, to really show off what makes the museum special.

The Bateman Connection

So far Collections in the Landscape has already been active in exploring and interpreting some of the prehistoric monuments of Derbyshire. You can see the results for yourself by visiting The Mysterious Arbor Low.

Of course, we’re not the first to investigate these landscapes. People have been amazed by these mysterious monuments for hundreds of years, culminating in rise of the ‘Barrow Diggers’. We are walking in the footsteps of these 19th-century pioneers and in Derbyshire, no-one was more prolific than Thomas Bateman (1821-1861).

Illustration of Bateman’s museum at Lomberdale Hall, Wikimedia Commons.

In his short lifetime Bateman excavated over 72 barrows. His second book, Ten Years Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave Hills in the Counties of Derby, Stafford and York, is an impressive and detailed record of his activites.

Bateman amassed a large collection at his home, Lomberdale Hall. On his death, Bateman’s son sold these materials and many were acquired the Sheffield City Museum. This collection is still held by Museums Sheffield, with whom we’ve been pleased to work with as part of the project, it’s great that the Bateman legacy connects our institutions.

Tickets Please! – The object to the bottom right of the flints is a ‘Bateman Ticket’. Deposited in the Five Wells tumulus in 1846 by Thomas Bateman. Now on display at the museum.

We looking forward to continuing this partnership in the future, and to take the concept of Collections in the Landscape to other prehistoric sites. Where will Bateman take us next?

You can see an amazing, hand-written original copy of ‘Ten Years Digging…’ at Museum Sheffield’s upcoming exhibition, Drawing the Line.

Digital Interpretation

The use of digital interpretation is a hot topic for museums at the moment, but it’s a difficult thing to get right. As part of Stage 2 in the Collections in the Landscape project we are hoping to redevelop the Wonders of the Peak gallery, and we see digital interpretation as a key part of that. One of the best ways to understand what works and what doesn’t is to go and visit other museums, so that’s what we did! I have to admit that I was a bit of a digi-skeptic when it comes to museums, I visit to see objects not screens, but even I was won over.

Gold Coin of Trajan – This level of detail would be hard to see in normal gallery conditions.

 

A good reason to use digital is to bring small or hard to view items to life, and make them easier to see. It is hard to see the real detail in a roman coin, especially when there is 20cm of case between you and the object. To get around this visitors often move closer to the case in order to see the object properly, which causes problems for other visitors. I experienced this first-hand when visiting the British Museum’s current exhibition, Vikings: Life and Legend. The objects themselves were incredible but because of their size, and the busyness of the exhibition, it was a struggle to see them sometimes (and I am relatively tall!). The problem was partly the amount of people, which is unlikely to cause the same issues for us, but it was mostly the scale of the objects that made it difficult.

Vikings: Life and Legend. No problem viewing Roskilde 6 but the cases at the back look a little busy.

 

One of the ways to get around this is by digital interpretation. There was no digital included as standard in the Viking exhibition, however, there were guides on iPhones available to rent. The additional charge put many visitors off, myself included, and only around 3% of people in the gallery were using them. The visitors with guides did seem to be using the space differently and were spending less time at the objects themselves; perhaps they were seeing things the rest of us weren’t. We have thought about designing an app or specific guide for Buxton Museum but the uptake in audio guides is so small that it isn’t practical for a museum of our size. We are also quite interested in touch tables. Although not a fan of digital in galleries, I would have loved a massive touch table in the Vikings exhibition featuring the Vale of York hoard. Not only could it have been used to view the objects in detail but an extra layer of information could have been added, making the objects far more accessible. This could be a useful interpretation tool for the recently acquired Kirk Ireton coin hoard and is already successfully being used for the Staffordshire Hoard.

Ed, Anna and Jess putting the digital interpretation at Archives+ through its paces.

 

Archives+, in the Central library in Manchester, have embraced new digital approaches in their redevelopment. They have recently re-opened after a complete redevelopment of the building, funded by Manchester City Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund. We were lucky enough to have a guided tour of the new space and got to test out their digital offer. As a digi-skeptic and lover of archives I didn’t know what to expect. Archives+ face a different set of challenges to us; archives are hard to work with and difficult to engage people with. Paper is one of the most delicate materials to display, and, for conservation purposes, items can only be exhibited for a limited time. Audio and film archives can be intrusive and annoying in open gallery spaces. Archives+ avoid these problems by having a carefully designed space. Audio and film archives are available in separate booths to the side with directional speakers or headphones, and cases can be changed by a single member of staff.

The Oculus – situated in the centre of the building, it acts as a focal point. Audio booths can be seen behind.

 

There is very little original material on display in Archives+; instead they let the digital do the work. You can scroll through maps of Manchester from 1640, or look through the photographic archives of immigrant families. This is an approach that works well with delicate collections. The interactive that impressed us most was the Oculus in the middle of the gallery. It consists of three touch screen terminals that allow visitors to navigate a map of Manchester. The map contains around 50 points of interest and various different topics are covered by these points. The best thing is that everyone can see what and where the users of these terminals are looking at via the central map. We found this really drew people together and made you want to use it as a group. It was a positive visit and we all left feeling motivated about the digital options that are available. Digital seems to work well as a focal point, but is also a good way of making difficult items more accessible. While it should never replace original objects, it can be used to complement and support exhibitions to great effect.

A Visit to Middleton Top

This week I made a visit to the Countryside Centre at Middleton Top to talk to colleagues about Collections in the Landscape. Having tested our pilot projects, we’re now in the process of learning from the experience. We’re also considering where future projects might be aimed if we’re successful with our Stage 2 bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Middleton Top, and with it the route of the Cromford & High Peak Railway, is an important part of the story we want to tell as part of Collections in the Landscape. Our current gallery, The Wonders of the Peak, doesn’t effectively explore the story of the Peak District in the 19^th and 20^th century, something we want to change.

The engine house at Middletop Top. Image by shirokazan. Creative Commons, CC BY.

The Cromford & High Peak Railway was a significant change to the landscape of the Peak District and its construction represents a considerable feat of engineering. The line was 33 miles long, connecting the Cromford Canal in the south to the Peak Forest Canal in the north. To make this connection, the railway had to climb around 1000 feet from Cromford to its summit at Ladmanlow, near Buxton.

The railway was built between 1825 and 1830 on canal principles. It had flat sections following the contours of the landscape connected by a series of inclined planes. Stationary steam engines were used to transport carts up and down these planes, from one level to the next. At first, the flat sections were powered by horses until the improvement of steam locomotives.

Today, the route of the railway survives as the High Peak Trail and is a popular haunt for walkers and cyclists. The heritage of the route is also preserved at places like Middleton Top, where the engine and winding house are still preserved at the top of the Cromford Incline. At the bottom of this incline you can also find Leawood Pump House, built in 1849 to supply water to the Cromford Canal.

Interpreting this important feature of our landscape will be a challenge due to its length and complexity. However, by working with our partners and using the right technology, we’d like to help tell visitors about this important aspect of the Peak’s past.

Both Middleton Top and Leawood Pump House can be seen in operation several times per year. As a closet steam nut, I’ve already made room in diary! You can find out more information about the area on the County’s website.

Middleton Top Countryside Centre

 

Putting things to the test…

In the last two weeks we’ve finally had the chance to get out and about with some friends and test our digital pilot projects in the landscape. But could months of time, effort and research really prepare us the occasion?

 
The four pilot projects are currently sitting on a dedicated website http://buxtonmuseumapps.com. Most of them, with the exception of Dovedale, rely on a mobile internet signal to run the web-based application. However, the site can also be viewed from home on a PC or Tablet or anywhere else with a Wi-Fi connection.

We’re very interested to hear what people think, so whether or not you get out in the landscape or explore from your armchair, let us know!

For me, one of the most interesting locations was Arbor Low & Gib Hill. This is for two reasons, firstly because I love the site, secondly because of the technical challenges it has thrown up!
On both the 7th and 8th March we bundled into a minibus and set-off to try The Mysterious Arbor Low web app. Strong, cold winds awaited us, but the rain held itself at bay as we explored the site and tried to access the digital content through our smartphones or tablets.

Participants explore the barrow built in the bank at Arbor Low

So what did we did discover?

Our participants were full of great of ideas about what they liked and what they didn’t. Once we’ve completed our evaluation process it looks like we’ll have a great resource with which to decide the next step for Collections in the Landscape.

However, here are three lessons I learnt very quickly over the weekend.
Don’t trust the weather forecast!

Go to Arbor Low they said…It’ll be sunny they said.

Friday had been bright but chilly. But as I drove through thick fog on the following Saturday morning it began to dawn on me that the promised ‘brightening up’ was unlikely to take place before our visit began! That said, the rain held off and the mist and fog do lend Arbor Low & Gib Hill a certain spooky charm.
In cold weather, people don’t like taking off their gloves!

As a general rule, the screens of tablets and smartphones don’t react well to gloved fingers. However, there was a certain reluctance to remove these accessories whilst standing on an exposed, windy ridge in the Peak District!
Mobile Data can be extremely variable

During out visit we experienced amazing variability in the accessibility of mobile data. Some participants had almost no problems at all whilst others (myself included) found themselves relying on pre-downloaded audios as a ‘plan b’. Interestingly, I’m on the same network as my colleague Jess, who had no difficulties whatsoever! This variability is certainly something to bear in mind as we plan ways to roll-out Collections in the Landscape.

As the mist fades away, the group advances to Gib Hill

We’ve already learnt a lot from the digital pilots, things that can only be gained from actually getting out there and braving the elements and technical difficulties! As we study the results of our evaluation we hope to take this learning further in order to tidying up the projects we have, and to plan more for the future.

As a final note, I’d also like to take the time to thank Museums Sheffield for their support and cooperation during the making of the Arbor Low & Gib Hill pilot and for letting us incorperate some their own amazing collections.

Creswell Crags

Jess and I visited Creswell Crags this month to brush up on our museum documentation skills. The refresher course was courtesy of The East Midlands Museum Service so thanks to them for investing in the development of the CITL team.

Church Hole Cave, Creswell Crags, J.W. Jackson collection

Creswell Crags is one of the most important archaeological sites in Britain and has long been on my list of things to see. Unfortunately, it was the 12th of February, a day when the country faced a variety of adverse weather conditions. Jess and I planned a look around the limestone gorge and caves that were occupied by humans as far back as the last ice age. However, the weather resembled that of the last ice age a little too much and we bottled out. I did get chance to look around their impressive new museum and I hope to return. You can plan your own visit here.

Pin Hole Cave, Creswell Crags, J.W. Jackson collection

Buxton Museum is linked to Creswell Crags: Sir William Boyd Dawkins, the archaeologist and geologist who opened Buxton Museum was a key figure in the early excavations of the caves in 1875. His student and friend, Dr John Wilfriid Jackson, participated in later digs in 1923 and took responsibility for publishing many of the remarkable finds including animal remains and tools and jewellery used by nomadic humans between 55,000 and 10,000 years ago. This image of a mammoth’s milk teeth is from Jackson’s collection of lantern slides. It amuses me to learn that such a large and fearsome creature had milk teeth but it stands to reason when you think about it; they are mammals after all.

Mammoth milk molars, Creswell Crags, J.W. Jackson

Back in Buxton, professional photographer Nick Lockett and his brother Steve have returned to provide us with more high-quality images of the collections. We had to figure out how to open more antiquated display cases, remove the objects, transport them to the photographer and put them back again. This process can be a slightly nerve-wracking challenge but I’m pleased to say that the objects remain intact! I wouldn’t be worth my salt as a collections assistant if I wasn’t careful. Needless to say, I would be happy if I never had to move a three foot-tall Ashford Black Marble urn again and Nick equally happy not having to take a shot (ABM is notoriously difficult to photograph). Here’s a picture of me taking credit for the great photography.

Rejected from Beegees tribute band but nonetheless happy

If you want to help us develop our technology and the future of the museum, you can volunteer to test our brand new apps https://collectionsinthelandscape.wordpress.com/buxton-projects-information/

Getting Creative with Content

Collections in the Landscape is all about giving audiences more choice about how they access and engage with their heritage. Our developmental work, and previous projects and exhibitions, have all generated lots of quality digital content, incorporating images, audio, video and text. We’re already beginning to use certain digital platforms with some degree of success, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many means available to share this content as widely, and as creatively, as possible. After a quick research session, here are three of my favourites. Watch this space to see how we might use these in the near future!

History Pin
Our Buxton Shops pilot features images from the Board Collection, which captures bygone Buxton in a fantastic range of archive photographs. Some of these can already be found on Picture the Past. History Pin offers another platform which seems perfectly suited for such images.

History Pin Map, centred around Buxton

The concept is simple, upload your images through the platform and ‘pin’ them to a Google Map. The result of multiple users uploading content is a rich resource of historic images, all attached to specific places which can then be searched or filtered by visitors to the site or web app. I particularly like the ‘Collections’ option, which will allow us to bring any History Pin content together as Collections in the Landscape.

Every Trail
This site allows users to find and follow ‘trips’ shared by others or to record and create their own trail. The platform has a large, international community of users and is available as a handy app for phone or tablet. By adding content to Every Trail, we have the opportunity to reach an established audience.

 

Every Trail homepage

 

Trips are basically a series of points, linked up to form the complete route. At each point the user can attach a number of different types of media, including text, image, audio and links to video or other web content. In its most simple form a trip could just be a series of directions or photographs, but obviously there’s the opportunity to attach richer, more engaging content for users to explore.

 
SCVNGR
This app (pronounced ‘scavenger’) is a location-based game where users ‘Go Places, Do Challenges and Earn Points’. There’s a neat video about it on SCVNGR’s Vimeo channel. This platform could add an extra layer of interactivity to our content

SCVNGR Homepage

SCVNGR allows a user to create ‘Challenges’ which are attached to specific locations alongside other multimedia content. Once made public, other users who visit this locality can have a go and earn themselves points.

Challenges can be as simple as ‘checking in’ or taking and uploading a photo but can also be more tricky, such as solving riddles or clues. The points earned by users add an element of competition to the platform and in some cases can be exchanged for rewards by participating institutions.

Just writing about these platforms has got me fired up to try something out! I hope we can announce something soon. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the blog…