391-401

5.000, 15.000, 200.000 years ago... an exhibition on life in prehistoric Macedonia : the new permanent exhibition on the prehistory of Macedonia at the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum

• Στεφανή, Ευαγγελία

One of the new permanent exhibitions at the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum is devoted to the prehistory of Macedonia and is entitled “5,000... 15,000... 200,000 Years Ago... An Exhibition on Life in Prehistoric Macedonia”. The present paper begins by raising questions about the way in which prehistory is presented in Greek museums. This is followed by a discussion of certain parameters that organisers of exhibitions on this theme should take into account to ensure that their exhibition achieves its main aim, which is none other than to create a channel of communication between the modem visitor and the man of the past through the material remains of his culture. Such an exhibition cannot and should not aim to present a single, absolute truth, a distillation of all the available knowledge; rather it should seek to propose just one of many possible interpretations and readings of the archaeological material.The paper goes on to present the main axes and thematic sections of the exhibition on the prehistory of Macedonia at the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum. This exhibition is centred on man and is anthropocentric in two different ways. That is to say, on the one hand it focuses on prehistoric man as an active agent, as a vehicle of the culture in which he lives, and on the other on modem man as a visitor who is called upon to interpret the information he is provided with on the basis of his own experience. The exhibition follows the logical sequence of its thematic sections (e.g. the natural environment, the production stage consisting of agriculture and stock- breeding, storage and cooking, exchanges with other groups, social differentiation etc.). At the same time another, epistemological axis is developed in the exhibition, which deals with issues of current importance to prehistoric archaeology, such as the excavation and conservation processes and collaboration between prehistoric archaeology and other social sciences (e.g. social anthropology, folklore) or natural sciences (e.g. geology, archaeometry). The paper makes special mention of the exhibition’s multimedia application, which consists of the screening of a film in a special purpose-built area. The film is entitled “Three Archaeologists Speak about Prehistoric Households” and aims to show how the material is capable of being interpreted in many different ways. It also aims to present archaeologists not only as scientists who attempt to interpret the material remains of past civilisations with the aid of certain methodological tools but also as individuals who try to use the results of archaeological research to produce something of benefit to society, without shedding their own ideological perceptions.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

προϊστορία , αρχαιολογικά μουσεία, Θεσσαλονίκη , Μακεδονία

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