Mystery items handling collection

Mystery items handling collection

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Teachers notes Welcome to the. Our Mystery items handling collection contains 12 real artefacts from our collection and we encourage everyone to enjoy looking at and touching the artefacts to find out all about them. These notes include: Background information on and details about each artefact. Ideas for questions, things to think about and discuss with your group. NMS Good handling guide The collection is used by lots of different groups so we d like your help to keep the collection in good condition. Please follow these guidelines for working with the artefacts and talk them through with your group. 1 Always wear gloves when handling the artefacts (provided) 2 Always hold artefacts over a table and hold them in two hands 3 Don t touch or point at artefacts with pencils, pens or other sharp objects 4 Check the artefacts at the start and the end of your session 5 Please report any missing or broken items using the enclosed form

Contents Artefacts from the Pacific 1. War club 2. Flag Artefacts from the Far East 3. Glass globe 4. Gaming pieces 5. Headdress 6. Hat Artefacts from Africa 7. Drum 8. Gourd 9. Headrest 10. Stool Artefacts from the natural world 11. Elephant skin 12. Whale baleen

The intricate zigzag carving on the top and bottom of the club. Feel the weight of the club and the gnarled end. How easy do you think it would have been to fight with it? What type of warrior would have owned a club like this? Would he have been big or small, young or old? Would he have had to have been strong? Pacific Artefacts 1. War club This war club is from the island of Fiji in the South Pacific. There are around 30 different types of Fijian clubs and each type of club has its own distinctive style of decoration including both abstract and realistic forms and patterns. A Fijian warrior would choose a club that suited his size and the way he moved and fought. This club would be his most treasured possession. Clubs like this were used as weapons and if it was used to kill an enemy, the kill would be indicated by cutting notches on the grip - the part at which the club is held. If a club had been used to kill many enemies, the people believed it had its own mana, with power and a life of its own. Different clubs were used for different types of blow and this club would have been used for striking and smashing. The club would also be used during ceremonial occasions and as a walking stick.

Can you identify all the different parts of the coat of arms? Feel the bark cloth. What words can you use to describe it? Is it rough or smooth, heavy or light? Is it more like fabric or paper? If you had tour own coat of arms, what symbols would you put on it to tell people about you? 2. Flag This is a flag showing the coat of arms of Tonga. This flag has been painted onto cloth made from the inner layer of tree bark. To make the cloth, the bark would have been soaked in sea water for two weeks. Then the bark fibers would have been beaten to compact them and to make them thin before leaving the cloth to dry. The flag is painted with natural pigments including ochre. The coat of arms was designed in 1875 with the creation of the Tongan constitution. The three swords represent the three dynasties of the kings of Tonga. The three stars symbolize the three main island groups of Tonga. The dove and olive branch symbolize the wish for God s peace to reign over Tonga. The crown symbolized the ruling king of Tonga and the text at the bottom means God and Tonga are my inheritance.

The scene on the insidewhat does it show? Dragons flying in the clouds and breathing fire Spin the globe on its stand. It looks as though the dragons are flying past you. The paint will last longer on the inside of the globe than if it was on the outside. Why do you think this is? Asian artefacts 3. Glass globe This is a decorative glass globe painted using a Chinese technique known as inside painting. Inside painting involves inserting a thin, angled bamboo pen loaded with colored paint into the small opening in the neck of a bottle or globe and painting in the space inside of it. This type of painting originated in snuff bottles in the 19th century and the artists who do it are extremely highly regarded due to the difficulty of the technique. Legend has it that during the 19th century Qing Dynasty, an official member of the court stopped for a rest at a small temple. When he took out his snuff bottle, he found it was empty so he used a thin, sharp bamboo stick to scrape out the powder that was stuck to the sides. He threw the bottle away but it was found by a young monk who saw that there was an attractive pattern on the inside, left where the bamboo had scraped the powder. This was said to be the invention of inside painting. Inside painting examples include landscape scenes, animals, portraits and poems.

Using the picture of the board, can you match the pieces in the box to their role? the pieces- they are small and round, not like our chess pieces. Can you think of a game you play that uses pieces like this? Draughts, Connect Four Look at the box the pieces came to the museum in. do you think this is the original box? What does it tell us about where the pieces came from and were owned by? 4. Gaming pieces These are Xiangqi gaming pieces from China. Xiangqi is a two player board game similar to chess that represents a battle between two armies with the object being to capture the opposing players general. It is often referred to as Chinese chess in English. Unlike chess, the board contains features such as a river and palace which prevent certain movements. These pieces are carved from wood with a bone or ivory inlay. These pieces do not form a complete set (the pieces from one side of the board). A complete set consists of: 1 General 2 Advisors 2 Elephants 2 Horses 2 Chariots 2 Canons 5 Soldiers

The orange, blue and yellow stones covering the top of the headdress. These represent coral, turquoise and amber. Try on the headdress. What does it make you feel like? 5. Headdress This is a replica of a Tibetan headdress. Count the braids. How many are there? Tibetans love exuberant decoration and many everyday items are richly coloured and highly embellished. The headdress is the chief adornment for nomadic Tibetan women but nowadays it is mainly worn for festivals and special occasions. Headdresses are often used as symbols of family wealth and a married woman would wear more ornaments that an unmarried one. Traditional headdresses are often covered in coral, pearls, amber and turquoise as these stones are used for their mythical properties. For example, turquoise is said to have protective properties and coral is thought to ward off evil thoughts. They often also contain braids and plaits and some contain 108 braids as this is considered a lucky number and is important in Tibetan Buddhism.

Look at how the straw is woven. This is why it is called a knitted straw hat. Try on the hat. Do you think it would give you much protection from the rain or snow? about Can you think of different types of hat that we wear in the UK? 6. Hat This hat belongs to a group of traditional Japanese hats known as Kasa. The word kasa becomes gasa when used to name a particular type of hat. The different types of Kasa are Amigasa, Jingasa (Samurai hat), Sugegasa, Takuhatsugasa and Sandogasa. This is an Amigasa, a knitted straw hat. It may have originated when dancers used it to hide their faces for modesty when performing for royalty. It is now worn for festivals and folk dances. Due to their shape, many of the Kasa could be used to protect the wearer from rain and snow.

Look at how the drum is made. Can you see where the skin is held on by the cords and how the cords are twisted to make them tight? Hold the drum under one arm and bang it without squeezing it then with squeezing it. Can you hear the difference in the notes? about What type of message do you think would be sent using this type of drum? Come home for your dinner or Help! We are being attacked African artefacts 7. Drum This is called a talking drum and is made from animal hide attached at each end to a wooden body by leather cords. The talking drum is held under the arm and the cords squeezed and released as the drum is hit with a stick. The harder the drum is squeezed, the higher pitched the note is. Talking drums get their name from the range of notes they give off. There are many different sizes of talking drums. The largest is a dun dun and the smallest a gan gan. Talking drums are used in various regions throughout West Africa to sound prayers and blessings of a new day and to send messages between villages. These drums spread to Central and South America and the Caribbean during the slave trade and were once banned from African-Americans because they were being used by the slaves to communicate with each other. Certain drum patterns and rhythms are associated with spiritual beings in each tribe.

The colourful beading used to decorate the gourd. Hold the gourd one way upwhat might it have been used for this way up? Now hold it the other way upwhat might it have been used for this way up? Can you think of anything that we use a hollowed out fruit or vegetable for? We make Halloween lanterns from hollowed out pumpkins and turnips. 8. Gourd Gourds are types of hard skinned fruit that are members of the cucumber family. Hollowed out and dried gourds have been used by many societies across the world in different ways. They can be formed to suit their specific uses by being shaped in a mould or tied with string as they were grown. One of the most commonly used gourd species is the bottle gourd which was first used as a water carrier but developed more diverse purposes such as storing dry grains, churning butter and cheese, and brewing beer. The bottle gourd is often used as a musical instrument. Bottle gourds have been turned into drums, rattles, and wind and string instruments. The diverse forms of the bottle gourd are beginning to disappear as modern societies are replacing them with pottery, aluminium and plastic containers.

The crisscross pattern carved on the headdress and the banana shape to fit the neck. Pick it up. Although it is made of wood it is very light, not much heavier than a pillow. Do you think it would be comfortable to sleep on? 9. Headrest This type of headrest was used by the warriors of Southern African nomadic tribes to support their heads while they slept and protect their elaborate hairstyles from falling out. The headrest would actually have been placed under the neck. Most headrests like this are made from wood and may have been carved in a style specific to the region it came from or custom-made for its individual owner.

The crisscross pattern on the base of the stool. Have a seat on the stool. Do you think it is comfortable or not? This is quite a simple stool and not very elaborate. Do you think it would have been used for a king or a normal person? 10. Stool This is a traditional Bamileke stool. This type of stool has been used for hundreds of years and is distinguished by its round shape and crisscross pattern. Bamileke stools are carved from a single tree trunk and are usually polished with a dark shoe stain. Their size depends on the size of the tree from which they were carved. In Africa, stools are used as everyday objects and also as symbols of status and power. They are considered to be highly personal objects and many Africans would be shocked if a friend, relative, or stranger used their stool. Some even believe that a persons stool is the container for their soul. In the Bamileke people these stools are referred to as the king s stools because the most intricate ones were used as seats for tribal chiefs.

Look at the wrinkles, creases and hair on the skin. Feel the skin. It is much rougher and tougher than your own skin. What part of an elephant s body do you think might have thinner skin? Its ears Artefacts from the natural world 11. Elephant skin The scientific term for an elephant is a pachyderm, which means thick-skinned animal. An elephant s skin is extremely thick and tough and around most parts of its body it measures about 2.5 centimeters thick. Their skin is covered in ridged creases and a sparse coating of wiry hair. Elephant skin is usually gray but can appear brown or red from wallowing in mud holes. Mud acts as a sunscreen, protecting the elephant s skin from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Although it is thick and tough, an elephant s skin is very sensitive to moisture loss and insect bites. They use their trunks to blow soil on their bodies which dries and bakes to form a protective coating. Elephants also wallow in mud to help regulate their body temperatures as they have difficulty in releasing heat from their skin because, because, in proportion to their body size, they have very little of it. Some elephants have even been seen lifting up their legs to show the soles of their feet, and expose more skin to the air.

Look at the thin ridges that run the length of the baleen. They are like the ridges in your nails. Feel the frayed edge of the baleen- do you think it would be good at catching tiny sea creatures? Do you think whales eat bigger fish as well? No. Although they are the largest mammals on earth, they survive on the tiniest creatures. 12. Whale baleen Baleen plates are a part of a whale s body that act like a sieve and catch plankton, krill and other small organisms for the whale to eat. Whales have rows of baleen plates in their upper jaw instead of teeth. The baleen are flexible plates with frayed, hairy edges to filter the plankton and krill from large mouthfuls of sea water. They are arranged in two parallel rows and look like combs with thick hair at the end of each comb tooth. Baleen is made of keratin, like our fingernails and teeth, and grows throughout a whale s life. A blue whale, the largest mammal on earth, can have up to 320 baleen plates!