Research and Teaching

statue of a caryatid in the sunshine

Research in the Museum of Classical Archaeology

The Museum houses one of the finest collections of plaster casts in the world - as well as more than 10,000 sherds, 4,500 paper squeezes of inscriptions and more than 10,000 sherds and ancient objects. In addition, the Faculty houses the A.J.B. Wace Mycenae Archive. 

Research projects in the Museum

New Futures for Replicas: Principles and Guidance for Museums and Heritage

The Museum of Classical Archaeology has helped in the production of new guidance for the the treatment of replicas, both historical and newly produced, in museum and heritage contexts. 

This publication sets out the principles that will allow museum professionals to think anew about these objects and how best to protect and display them. Museums should be engaging and impactful spaces and replicas have the capacity to generate curiosity and creativity, to challenge established knowledge, and help us reconsider our relationship with objects and the ways we think about the past. New Futures for Replicas is a timely and praiseworthy effort – replicas have multiple values and this aspect makes them all the more important to protect, conserve, and preserve for all people as a source of enjoyment and learning.

– Dr Yannis Galanakis, Director of Archives and former Director of the Museum of Classical Archaeology, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge

The Principles and Guidance have been produced as part of the New Futures for Replicas project at Stirling University, led by Dr Sally Ann Foster and Dr Siân Jones.

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Archaeological Research in the Faculty of Classics

Archaeological research in the Faculty of Classics takes many forms. Classical archaeology is, generally speaking, the study of the material culture of the Graeco-Roman world; traditionally, it has been marked by the categorisation and classification of types of artefacts.

Here at Cambridge, our research community is rich and vibrant – covering a broad geographical and temporal spectrum, as well as diverse theoretical and methodological approaches.

The Museum supports research in the Faculty both through its collections and by providing financial provision for projects including archaeological digs. The Faculty has five permanent University Teaching Officers, as well as several Research Associates and Fellows who carry out archaeological excavations and projects in various areas of classical archaeology. In addition, other members and associates of the Faculty also carry out archaeologically-related work.
 

Research Strengths

  • Classical art history
  • Theory and practice of survey archaeology (from the prehistoric Aegean to Roman Italy and the provinces)
  • Iconography
  • Reception Studies (from the Renaissance to our own day)
  • Collecting

 

Our Research Community

Our art and archaeology research group has strong links with other research areas in the Faculty of Classics (e.g. Ancient History and the Mycenaean Epigraphy group) and is also well integrated with other groups of archaeologists in Cambridge (including the MacDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, as well as the Faculties of Archaeology & Anthropology, Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, and Divinity). We also have close links with the Antiquities Department at the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Classical archaeology is taught to undergraduates within the Classical Tripos and to postgraduates through the MPhil programme. We also have a thriving body of PhD students studying the material and visual culture of the ancient world. 

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