https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1159-6826
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ABSTRACT
This paper advocates using museum collections for archaeological research by offering a new approach to generate questions on the sociocultural lives of ancient people. I define “diaspora” collections as historical and archaeological artifacts excavated in a homeland site but currently stored in museums that are outside the homeland country. Of particular importance in this approach is the identification of artifacts’ diagnostic traits, including material composition, morphology, and symbolic decoration, that are to be linked to the “original” data in their homeland. Diaspora collections-based research necessitates provenience studies, as well as direct observation of both the diaspora collection and its original data. It also takes advantage of the recent development of various digital and remote technologies. A case study to show this methodology comes from dedicatory lanterns currently stored outside Japan that were part of the shogun (Tokugawa) family’s graveyards in modern Tokyo during the 18th and 19th centuries a.d.
Acknowledgements
I owe a great amount of gratitude to Mr. Satoshi Nishimura, Mr. Tomoki Ito, and Mr. Stephen Lang. They generously offered me much valuable information and constantly helped me gather data when my in-person research trips to Japan were not possible in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Declarations of Interest
None
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Yoko Nishimura
Yoko Nishimura (Ph.D. 2008, UCLA) is Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies at Gettysburg College. She is currently pursuing archaeological research in Jōmon Japan and Bronze Age northern Mesopotamia. Her research interests include household archaeology, economic inequality, material culture, and museum collections for archaeological research. ORCID: 0000-0003-1159-6826