Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis - Volume 136, Issue 4, 2023

A colonial natural history network. The provenance of a long lost Haarlem elephant skull

The international research program Pressing Matter investigates the potential of so-called colonial objects to support reconciliation with the colonial past, and to deal with conflicting claims for these objects within museums. To be able to do so, our knowledge about the provenance of these objects needs to be improved. This article investigates the acquisition of an early-nineteenth century elephant skull in the Haarlem museum for natural history. Even though the skull itself is no longer available, its provenance shows how European zoologists and museums used transnational and local networks to acquire their objects, sometimes at the cost of local people on the frontier of the colonial world. Recontextualizing objects in natural history museums by researching provenance can be an important step in decolonizing these institutions, and helps to rewrite the history of collecting natural objects.

Money does buy happiness. Coin dedications to Asklepios between the fifth and third centuries BC

Throughout the ancient world coins were frequently offered at shrines, temples, caves, and wells. Inspired by object biography and new materialism, this article examines the changing functions of coin dedications at the cult of Asklepios, which have so far received little scholarly attention. It traces the history of the coins from the moment they were acquired by the dedicant to their final deposition, and examines the ways they interact with the world around them. To do so, it will consider the relationship between the dedicant and the dedication, various processes of sacralisation, and the transformation of coins from commodity to non-commodity. The material characteristics enabling this unique biography will be kept in mind throughout.