Display collections
Nature of display collections
The main display collection
The technical display collection
Nature of display collections
Display collections are aimed at the general interest of occasional visitors and first time staff members. They are limited in scope and very selective.
We plan, in the future, to include them as pages within this website as well, so that they may cater to virtual visitors as well.
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The main display collection
The main display collection is labeled ZSD, for "sitewide (Z) Storage, Display." It is housed in the reception room of the Expedition House, where visitors first come when arriving at the site.
At the moment, it consists of a type sherd collection that highlights the most visible variations in ware and shape as indicators of time differentiation. However brief, this overview is sufficient to achieve two important goals:
- first, they engage visitors, before they walk over to the excavations, by alerting them to the kind of correlation that exists between simple objects and the larger picture evoked by the architecture and the stratigraphy;
- second, they give the sense of the parameters we use for the determining dates, especially when we project the immediate superposition of strata separated by centuries and even millennia. Even without registering and remembering the details of the attribution of types to periods, visitors gain a sense of confidence in the affirmations they will encounter on their itinerary.
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The technical display collection
The technical display collection is labeled ZST, for "sitewide (Z) Storage, Technical." At present it is not yet organized for viewing.
It contains objects and samples of movable finds that appear frequently in the excavations, but may not be immediately recognizable, or the typology of which is relevant even when it may not be immediately perceived as particularly significant. They include, for instance, complete mudbricks, kiln waste and slag, misfired ceramic vessels, lithic and soil samples (e.g., virgin soil), and such.
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