Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

📸 N.22344.LIN Portrait of an unidentified Sámi man, woman and dog, Norrbotten, Sweden. Photographer: ?S.E. Laven, ?1938.
🔗 collections.maa.cam.ac.uk/photographs/315616/

A Sámi man and woman sitting with a dog between them on wooden steps outside the front door of a wooden building. The woman is looking down towards the dog whilst the man smiles widely.

Sadly, the names of many of the people who appear in the photographs we care for were not recorded. We are even sometimes unsure who made the photograph and when. By sharing images like this one we hope that someone might recognise the couple in it and help us identify them.

📸 1943.3 Uchikake kimono, Japan. Donor: Mrs Gertrude Strickland.
🔗 collections.maa.cam.ac.uk/objects/495479/

Secrets up your sleeves? – MAA Digital Lab Discover the journey of a Japanese wedding kimono in the MAA Stores Move Project, uncovering hidden histories of women, collectors, and museum practices.

In our latest blog post Katrina Dring, who was a Collections Assistant during the project shares the detective work that revealed these hidden stories: www.maadigitallab.org/blog/2025/12... 2/2

A white silk robe decorated with both embroidered and printed flowers, including chrysanthemums. It is also lined with bright orange silk.

Detail of a sleeve decorated with both embroidered and printed leaves and flowers, including chrysanthemums. Some flowers are simply a black outline whilst others are embroidered in green and orange silk thread and goldwork.

Unpacking a Japanese wedding kimono during our Stores Move uncovered unexpected links to Gertrude Strickland, Alice de Bar, and Kathleen Rishbeth, emphasising women’s often-overlooked presence in museum histories. 1/2

📸 Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun (Snuneymuxw First Nation) with Coast Salish spindle whorls and Salish robe, British Museum, UK. Image credit: Jordan Wilson, May 2024.

📸 Eliot White-Hill’s “A Case for Repatriation,” with the woven works of Atheana Picha in the background, Cambridge, UK. Image credit: Noelle Kahanu, 2025.

Don't forget - 'Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous futures for colonial collections' closes on 21 December 2025: maa.cam.ac.uk/whats_on/exh...

A contemporary artist is seated a table with the corner and edge of a patterned textile in front of him and three slightly domed wooden discs to the side. He is looking at the discs which each have a hole in the centre and intricate carvings on the surface.

Find out how he achieved this with the 'Fault Lines' exhibition at MAA head over to the IndiGen project blog:
www.indigen.eu/blog/convers... 2/3

In the foreground is display case containing two travel cases with space inside for the objects on display beside them. On the wall in the background are three woven shawls, each with a circular drum featuring a painted design above them.

Jordan Wilson is one of the curatorial collective behind #MAAFaultLines. He is passionate about finding ways for contemporary Indigenous communities to engage with the material legacies of anthropological collecting. 1/3

Archaeology Awards Voting - Current Archaeology Voting has now opened for the Current Archaeology Awards! Which people, projects and publications deserve recognition?

Vote for the project now on the Current Archaeology Awards website: www.archaeology.co.uk/vote

Visit the @cam-archaeology.bsky.social website to find out more about the Snettisham Hoards: www.arch.cam.ac.uk/news/snettis... 3/3

A hole in the ground containing beautifully crafted gold neck rings. Each torc is circular in shape and made of metal strands twisted together and terminating at each end with a chunky loop.

The book explores the mysteries surrounding 1,200+ metal artefacts found at Snettisham, Norfolk. Scientific investigations revealed copper alloy fragments were a rare Iron Age helmet and evidence of repairs to some torcs may indicate they were heirlooms. 2/3
© The Trustees of the British Museum

A book cover featuring an image of a hole in the ground containing gold neck rings. The title is 'The Snettisham Hoards' and it is edited by Julia Farley and Jody Joy.

Congratulations to Jody Joy, our Senior Curator in European Archaeology, and British Museum curator Julia Farley, who co-edited 'The Snettisham Hoards' which has been nominated for the Current Archaeology Research Project of the Year Award! 1/3

We're so glad you enjoyed your visit! 🥰

📸 1968.375 Effigy jar, Costa Rica, Central America, Late Period Nicoya.
🔗 collections.maa.cam.ac.uk/objects/544690

An oval jug with a base and tall rim that has the head, wings, and tail feathers of a turkey moulded onto the sides. The clay has been textured for the skin around the throat and over the break, whilst the design on the wings reflects the zigzag pattern of feathers.

As today is #Thanksgiving we had to share something which represented an animal very closely associated with the holiday - this magnificent turkey-shaped effigy jar.

Video description: A winter landscape with gently falling snow. The trees are represented by three copper alloy arrowheads which are triangular in shape.

📸 1952.385 Three arrowheads, Marathon, Greece, Bronze Age.
🔗 collections.maa.cam.ac.uk/objects/4556...

✨ Holiday closing ✨

The Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology will be closed from 5pm on Sunday 21 December and will re-open at 10am on Saturday 3 January 2026.

The museum will also be closed to the general public on Tuesday 6 January 2026. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Video description: Museum staff remove a few small objects from a display case which is then dusted by a conservation student using a brush and vacuum cleaner.

Opening display cases too often can put the objects inside at risk through contact, changes in their environment, and security issues. Our deep cleans whilst we're closed to the public on Mondays allows teams from across the museum to come together to potentially resolve multiple jobs at once.

Visit our website now to find out more about this exhibition: maa.cam.ac.uk/whats_on/exh...

📸 ‘Auamo No Ka Ulu’, Kunāne Wooton, 2024.

📸 1947.403 Ahu'ula, Hawaii. Collector: ?Rev. Gerard Mason.
🔗 collections.maa.cam.ac.uk/objects/5103...

 📸 Works including ‘Sky Born Ancestor Drum’, Atheana Picha,
2024

Kunāne Wooton’s sculpture ʻAuamo No Ka Ulu’ which depicts two kneeling wooden figures holding a cracked piece of volcanic basalt on their shoulders. In the background the exhibition's title, 'Fault Lines' can be seen on a wall.

A visitor to the exhibition looks at a short cape in a display case. The cape is made from bright yellow feathers with a pattern created by red feathers.

Visitors to the exhibition looking at contemporary art works by Atheana Picha, consisting of handmade blankets, carved pins and painted drums with photographic portraits of community Elders from wearing these works.

You've only got a month left to see 'Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous futures for colonial collections'!

Visitors are describing it as "Very moving", "touching, insightful" and a "powerful message"!

Exhibition closes: 21 December 2025

We're not judging, especially in this weather 😆

📸 N.82289. An archaeologists' picnic, ?Europe. Photographer: Unknown, ?late 19th/early 20th Century.
🔗 collections.maa.cam.ac.uk/photographs/375560/

Two men, one standing and the other lying on the ground, having a picnic, including bread, beer, custard powder, and small campfire, on the banks of a waterway. In the background is a small, moored sailing boat. 

What are your picnic essentials? This pair, who we think are
archaeologists looking at the use of terraces as a farming technique in England, would probably say a tin of custard powder!

📸 ‘Ngaratya Kirra-thika (Together on Country)’, Australia. Artist: David Doyle, 2025. Image credit: Eleanor Foster, 2025.

A copper representation of a curved flat throwing stick lying on the dry and cracked ground. The surface is engraved with a singular curvilinear line symbolising a river, with markings representing emu tracks and camps scattered along it. 

In our latest blog post discover how Barkindji artist David Doyle has collaborated with researcher Eleanor to reconnect collections at MAA with Country, community, and living Indigenous heritage in Far Western New South Wales, Australia:
www.maadigitallab.org/blog/2025/11...

Have you seen our new display? Today we're going behind-the-scenes to find out how we installed the 'People of the world' case.

Video description: Museum staff install objects depicting human faces into a display case.