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I suppose we have all seen those articles about that Cleopatra coin, which proves that she had a hooknose and was not a real beauty (cf. this article in The Guardian. I am surprised about it, because it is something we have already known for at least a century or three, ever since people started to collect coin. The observation that the coins show a different face than, e.g., the Berlin statue, is just as old. Does anyone know why this piece of non-information was published all over the world? Which scholar published a press release that was misquoted by all newspapers?
Jona Lendering
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It says in the article you quoted Jona: three people from Newcastle University's archaeological museums are mentioned.
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Because wide public does not know and media are searching for themes that belong to terms that everybody knows...same happened two month ago with "Damaszener Stahl".
Susanna
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Quote:I suppose we have all seen those articles about that Cleopatra coin, which proves that she had a hooknose and was not a real beauty (cf. this article in The Guardian. I am surprised about it, because it is something we have already known for at least a century or three, ever since people started to collect coin. The observation that the coins show a different face than, e.g., the Berlin statue, is just as old. Does anyone know why this piece of non-information was published all over the world? Which scholar published a press release that was misquoted by all newspapers?
This has been a week for recycled press releases. The Cleopatra story broke big time a couple of years ago IIRC (I don't think it was widely known then even amongst scholars that she was a bit of a dog... but given that it was Plutarch who said she was a beauty, you might have guessed it;-) which was why I was so surprised when it resurfaced, but there is a possible logic to it. Museums these days are heavily into news management; a certain large museum in London used to hoard press releases and monitor the news for a 'slow' news day and then release some juicy tidbit (remember 'female gladiators?'; the pot of ointment from a sarcophagus?) that is guaranteed to grab the media's child-like fascination with the new and different. In this context, and being a tad cynical, you have to remember that we are in the run-up to the launch of the Great North Museum in a few years' time, so now is a good time to start dropping Newcastle museum-based stories into the news. Expect to see more ;-)
The second story to 'break' was that archaeologists had 'proved' that the legionary amphitheatre was used for gladiatorial and wild beast entertainments as well as parades and displays. That idea has been around for donkey's years. The evidence they used to prop up their 'discovery' was, frankly (and I'm being kind here), tendentious and showed the usual archaeological lack of familiarity with taphonomic processes. But, again, it is news management, publicising the conference being held in Chester (and presumably bringing a warm glow to the sponsors' hearts) and at least it broke the monotony of the meeja obsessing about gun crime in the UK by ringing the magic gladiator bell.
Sadly, in a world where media coverage matters, who can blame them?
Mike Bishop
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Quote:Sadly, in a world where media coverage matters, who can blame them?
Well, waiting for an opportune moment to publish something is as old as the world, and I can live with that. But publishing something that is quite simply not true (the Cleopatra coin was nothing new) - it's simply below the standards of a university, which must be pursuing truth, truth, and nothing but the truth.
I am really worried about this ( here is an example from Holland). I mean: really worried. The university is, in my view, one of the few bulwarks against barbarism; and I am afraid we are losing this bulwark. I will not say that a Dark Age is approaching (although I expect a demographic collapse in the 2050's) but this behavior, and the refusal to do something against it, is one of my greatest worries.
Jona Lendering
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Quote:I am really worried about this (here is an example from Holland). I mean: really worried. The university is, in my view, one of the few bulwarks against barbarism; and I am afraid we are losing this bulwark. I will not say that a Dark Age is approaching (although I expect a demographic collapse in the 2050's) but this behavior, and the refusal to do something against it, is one of my greatest worries.
Well in the UK everything in the university world is about VFM (value for money) and FEC (you couldn't make this stuff up - it stands for Full Economic Costing amongst the few numpties who have not watched Father Ted...;-). This, along with research evaluation exercises, drive universities in a way they should not be driven, but then the old idea of an education for its own sake has long gone and espousing that nostrum these days is probably enough to get you sent to the UK equivalent of Gitmo (which rumour has it is on Lundy island, where you can allegedly get pecked to death by puffins for expressing anti-Blairite sentiments...). It is very easy to get depressed about the apparent decline of the university system, but you have to remember that what goes around comes around and things have probably got to get worse before they get better.
Mike Bishop
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You won't see this kind of stuff from American universities. That's because American universities are primarily sports franchises that offer a bit of education on the side.
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Quote:It is very easy to get depressed about the apparent decline of the university system, but you have to remember that what goes around comes around and things have probably got to get worse before they get better.
Well, that's quite optimistic...
Jona Lendering
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Quote:mcbishop:2rd8bvay Wrote:It is very easy to get depressed about the apparent decline of the university system, but you have to remember that what goes around comes around and things have probably got to get worse before they get better.
Well, that's quite optimistic...
Hey, you got me on a good day! ;-) I am a firm believer in Sturgeon's Revelation and have never known a field of endeavour where it is not demonstrable, let alone applicable and will reluctantly admit that the 10% is always worth fighting for. Gazing into my 2-mina crystal ballista ball, I predict things in the UK will start to pick up after 2012, when the Olympic dopathon is out of the way and funds stop being leeched out of everything vaguely cultural into that particular singularity (which, as of course we all know, is at the heart of every Romulan Bird of Prey... well, it makes you think...).
In the meantime, expect more press releases, daft notions, and signs that everything is going to pot (we could have a RAT competition: invent the daftest possible press release that still has just a modicum of plausibility; Coulston and I always wanted to try for the 'speaking tubes found on Hadrian's Wall' one and see if any of the press took the bait).
In short, it's a sign that we're all getting older ;-) I think we're all turning into Grumpy Old Romanists...
Mike Bishop
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Quote:I am a firm believer in Sturgeon's Revelation and have never known a field of endeavour where it is not demonstrable, let alone applicable and will reluctantly admit that the 10% is always worth fighting for.
Funnily enough, that's supported by such things as the percentage of films and videogames that never make their production costs back (give or take a few percent depending on the frequency of sunspots).
Just thought I'd throw that in.... :?
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
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