Interpreting the Royal Cemetery of Ur metalwork: A contemporary perspective from the archives of James R. Ogden

Extract

New sources of original material rarely emerge; therefore the opportunity to examine such a vital episode of archaeological history as the Joint Expedition to Ur, from a contemporary's perspective, and gain a valuable insight to the ways in which the metallurgical finds were gradually understood and interpreted, is one to be seized enthusiastically. Access to the previously private family archives of James R. Ogden, when linked with the archive material in the British Museum (BM), has enabled me to reconstruct the tentative conversations among the key players, concerning the identity of the metalwork found and the techniques used to make the items, the results of which still form the basis of much of our current understanding of the ancient metals of the Royal Cemetery at Ur.

The information that was learnt from the metallic discoveries at Ur had a tremendous impact on the understanding at the time about the antiquity of the craftsmanship involved. Much modern research has simply repeated or discussed what has been previously written, without examining the source material or understanding how the original conclusions were arrived at. It is therefore important to look afresh at the contemporary discussions, at the methods used and the conclusions reached. The processes of how knowledge was initially created are in themselves worth studying as they reflect the behavioural mores of the time and explain much about the dynamics of the different relationships between those involved. These were formative years in the development of archaeology as a discipline. It was a period not so much for providing all the answers, as for seeking ways to find answers to questions that had not been posed before; a matter more of process than conclusion.