Site museum
Topic: Studying Indian History: Sources, Dating and Historiography · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A site museum is a museum built at or next to the place where an excavation was carried out. It holds the objects dug up there, such as tools, pots, beads, seals and sculptures. Visitors see the finds in their setting, close to the ruins they came from. This matters because archaeologists read an object partly through its context, meaning where it was found: in a house, a drain, a grave or a kiln. Keeping finds near their site helps that link survive. In India, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) runs many site museums at major excavated sites.
Example
The ASI's museum at Sarnath, near Varanasi, is one of the oldest site museums in India. It was set up in the early 20th century, in 1904. It displays finds from the Sarnath excavations. The best known is the Lion Capital of Ashoka (3rd century BCE), the carved top of a pillar that is now India's national emblem.
Don't confuse with
- National or central museum (e.g. the National Museum, New Delhi): it brings together objects from many sites and regions under one roof. A site museum keeps the finds of one site at that site.
- Hoard: a hoard is a store of valuables that someone hid or lost in the past and that is later found. A site museum is a modern institution that displays finds.