Neil Curtis
Biographic Data
| ID | 3643418 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Neil Curtis |
| GIVEN NAMES | Neil |
| FAMILY NAME | Curtis |
| SIGNATURE | CURTIS N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Aberdeen |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4437-0460 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 91 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Giving and taking
The ethics of destructive sampling of human remains has become a critical debate, in part centred on developing minimally invasive techniques that simultaneously maximize information yield. While widely adopted best-practice guidelines have been developed, the proliferation of diverse analytical techniques results in incremental damage that compounds across studies, necessitating coordinated protocols to minimize cumulative destructive impact. He…
Repatriation from Scottish Museums
Scotland’s museums include many collections that are the result of Scotland’s involvement in the British Empire. These include items that were fairly and legally collected, but also include items that were acquired as military loot, those that reflect power imbalances in favour of collectors, and ancestral remains that were acquired to demonstrate theories of racial supremacy. This past has left problematic legacies that museums in Scotland are n…
Exploring co-production in community heritage research
Material Culture, Museums, and the Creation of Multiple Meanings
This chapter aims to show that ideas of the sacred, the numinous, and the contested, rather than of the rational, are most important in understanding how the meanings of material culture are formed and the role of museums. It considers how museums have offered rich contexts in which the changing, conflicting, and multiple meanings of material culture have developed. Scottish national identity, contested and unsettled, is shown in the contribution…
Reconstructing diet at the Neolithic stalled cairn of the Knowe of Rowiegar, Rousay, Orkney, using stable isotope analysis
The Knowe of Rowiegar, Rousay, Orkney
The Neolithic chambered cairn at Knowe of Rowiegar, Rousay, Orkney, was excavated in 1937 as part of a campaign that also saw excavations at sites such as Midhowe and the Knowe of Lairo. Not fully published at the time, and with only partial studies since, the human bone assemblage has now been largely re-united and investigated. This included an osteological study and AMS dating of selected bones from this site and other Rousay cairns in the car…
Beaker people in Britain
Contemporary and Historical Archaeology of the North
Placing the North
The Thing about Replicas-Why Historic Replicas Matter
Reproduction of archaeological material was a significant and serious enterprise for antiquarians and museums in the long nineteenth century. Replicas embed many stories and embody considerable past human energy. Behind their creation, circulation, use, and after-life lies a series of specific social networks and relationships that determined why, when, and in what circumstances they were valued, or not. Summarising the context of their productio…
Repatriation From Scottish Museums
Museums in Scotland have been involved in a number of high-profile repatriation cases over the past 20 years, including Glasgow Museums' return of the Ghost Dance Shirt in 1999, the repatriation of human remains from the University of Edinburgh since 1991, and the repatriation by the University of Aberdeen of a sacred bundle in 2003. This paper considers the approaches taken to the repatriation of human remains and sacred items by museums in Scot…
The original may yet be discovered
Among the leaf-shaped swords in the collections of the University of Aberdeen are three that have been recorded as having similar provenances in Kincardineshire. University museum records show that they have been described in very different ways over the two centuries since the first of them was reported as a ‘Roman gladius’. Since then discussion has varied, now focusing on whether they were made in the later Bronze Age or if they are recent rep…
An unusual pair of Roman bronze vessels from Stoneywood, Aberdeen, and other Roman finds from north-east Scotland
The provenance of two Roman bronze vessels in the collections of Marischal Museum has recently been discovered in the journal of Rev John Skinner’s 1825 Northern Tour. The reliability of this source is discussed, alongside a consideration of the antiquarian networks of the time. The vessels comprise a dipper and strainer set: unusually, the strainer is unfinished, and possible implications of this are considered. An Appendix catalogues other, mos…
Museums in a postmodern world
Since the late 1980s museums have been simultaneously described as undergoing unprecedented growth and being in danger of extinction, as their traditional practices have come under attack from various directions. Perhaps the greatest intellectual change in museums has been a shift from the profession being essentially conservative (with or without a capital 'C') to one whose language reflects a left-wing pedigree. This has led to a greater emphas…
Museums in a postmodern world
Universal museums, museum objects and repatriation
This paper discusses the contribution of the 2003'Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums' to the debate on repatriation. The'Universalist' approach taken by the Declaration is first considered, noting the implications of its emphasis on art, the heritage of museums and objects, along with its focus on the sculpture of ancient Greece and the enlightenment origin of museums such as the British Museum. It is argued that it reve…
A continuous process of relnterpretation’
A continuous process of relnterpretation’
(2005). ‘A continuous process of relnterpretation’: The challenge of the universal and rational museum. Public Archaeology: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 50-56
Human remains
The treatment of human remains has become a very contentious issue, with a range of legal, moral and political pressures now weighing on archaeologists and museum curators. Attempts to respond to this changing cultural context have often tried to show an increased respect for the dead, though it is argued here that these have sometimes had counter-productive results. This paper discusses some of the complex ways in which living people have a stak…
Two Previously Unrecorded Jadeite Axeheads from North-east Scotland
The collections of Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen include three jadeite axeheads (Fig. 1) which probably come from prehistoric Scottish contexts. This short note aims to bring them to the attention of others interested in these spectacular objects, in the hope that further work will help their place in Scottish prehistory to be better understood. One of the axeheads (ABDUA:39404) has already been published (Murray, 1994, 104; Batey & Ki…
Universal museums, museum objects and repatriation
This paper discusses the contribution of the 2003'Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums' to the debate on repatriation. The'Universalist' approach taken by the Declaration is first considered, noting the implications of its emphasis on art, the heritage of museums and objects, along with its focus on the sculpture of ancient Greece and the enlightenment origin of museums such as the British Museum. It is argued that it reve…
The Thing about Replicas-Why Historic Replicas Matter
Reproduction of archaeological material was a significant and serious enterprise for antiquarians and museums in the long nineteenth century. Replicas embed many stories and embody considerable past human energy. Behind their creation, circulation, use, and after-life lies a series of specific social networks and relationships that determined why, when, and in what circumstances they were valued, or not. Summarising the context of their productio…
Beaker people in Britain
Human remains
The treatment of human remains has become a very contentious issue, with a range of legal, moral and political pressures now weighing on archaeologists and museum curators. Attempts to respond to this changing cultural context have often tried to show an increased respect for the dead, though it is argued here that these have sometimes had counter-productive results. This paper discusses some of the complex ways in which living people have a stak…
Repatriation From Scottish Museums
Museums in Scotland have been involved in a number of high-profile repatriation cases over the past 20 years, including Glasgow Museums' return of the Ghost Dance Shirt in 1999, the repatriation of human remains from the University of Edinburgh since 1991, and the repatriation by the University of Aberdeen of a sacred bundle in 2003. This paper considers the approaches taken to the repatriation of human remains and sacred items by museums in Scot…
Exploring co-production in community heritage research
Reconstructing diet at the Neolithic stalled cairn of the Knowe of Rowiegar, Rousay, Orkney, using stable isotope analysis
Placing the North
A continuous process of relnterpretation’
(2005). ‘A continuous process of relnterpretation’: The challenge of the universal and rational museum. Public Archaeology: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 50-56
Two Previously Unrecorded Jadeite Axeheads from North-east Scotland
The collections of Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen include three jadeite axeheads (Fig. 1) which probably come from prehistoric Scottish contexts. This short note aims to bring them to the attention of others interested in these spectacular objects, in the hope that further work will help their place in Scottish prehistory to be better understood. One of the axeheads (ABDUA:39404) has already been published (Murray, 1994, 104; Batey & Ki…
Museums in a postmodern world
Since the late 1980s museums have been simultaneously described as undergoing unprecedented growth and being in danger of extinction, as their traditional practices have come under attack from various directions. Perhaps the greatest intellectual change in museums has been a shift from the profession being essentially conservative (with or without a capital 'C') to one whose language reflects a left-wing pedigree. This has led to a greater emphas…
Two Previously Unrecorded Jadeite Axeheads from North-east Scotland
The collections of Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen include three jadeite axeheads (Fig. 1) which probably come from prehistoric Scottish contexts. This short note aims to bring them to the attention of others interested in these spectacular objects, in the hope that further work will help their place in Scottish prehistory to be better understood. One of the axeheads (ABDUA:39404) has already been published (Murray, 1994, 104; Batey & Ki…
Human remains
The treatment of human remains has become a very contentious issue, with a range of legal, moral and political pressures now weighing on archaeologists and museum curators. Attempts to respond to this changing cultural context have often tried to show an increased respect for the dead, though it is argued here that these have sometimes had counter-productive results. This paper discusses some of the complex ways in which living people have a stak…
A continuous process of relnterpretation’
A continuous process of relnterpretation’
(2005). ‘A continuous process of relnterpretation’: The challenge of the universal and rational museum. Public Archaeology: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 50-56
Museums in a postmodern world
Since the late 1980s museums have been simultaneously described as undergoing unprecedented growth and being in danger of extinction, as their traditional practices have come under attack from various directions. Perhaps the greatest intellectual change in museums has been a shift from the profession being essentially conservative (with or without a capital 'C') to one whose language reflects a left-wing pedigree. This has led to a greater emphas…
Museums in a postmodern world
Universal museums, museum objects and repatriation
This paper discusses the contribution of the 2003'Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums' to the debate on repatriation. The'Universalist' approach taken by the Declaration is first considered, noting the implications of its emphasis on art, the heritage of museums and objects, along with its focus on the sculpture of ancient Greece and the enlightenment origin of museums such as the British Museum. It is argued that it reve…
An unusual pair of Roman bronze vessels from Stoneywood, Aberdeen, and other Roman finds from north-east Scotland
The provenance of two Roman bronze vessels in the collections of Marischal Museum has recently been discovered in the journal of Rev John Skinner’s 1825 Northern Tour. The reliability of this source is discussed, alongside a consideration of the antiquarian networks of the time. The vessels comprise a dipper and strainer set: unusually, the strainer is unfinished, and possible implications of this are considered. An Appendix catalogues other, mos…
The original may yet be discovered
Among the leaf-shaped swords in the collections of the University of Aberdeen are three that have been recorded as having similar provenances in Kincardineshire. University museum records show that they have been described in very different ways over the two centuries since the first of them was reported as a ‘Roman gladius’. Since then discussion has varied, now focusing on whether they were made in the later Bronze Age or if they are recent rep…
Repatriation From Scottish Museums
Museums in Scotland have been involved in a number of high-profile repatriation cases over the past 20 years, including Glasgow Museums' return of the Ghost Dance Shirt in 1999, the repatriation of human remains from the University of Edinburgh since 1991, and the repatriation by the University of Aberdeen of a sacred bundle in 2003. This paper considers the approaches taken to the repatriation of human remains and sacred items by museums in Scot…
Contemporary and Historical Archaeology of the North
Placing the North
The Thing about Replicas-Why Historic Replicas Matter
Reproduction of archaeological material was a significant and serious enterprise for antiquarians and museums in the long nineteenth century. Replicas embed many stories and embody considerable past human energy. Behind their creation, circulation, use, and after-life lies a series of specific social networks and relationships that determined why, when, and in what circumstances they were valued, or not. Summarising the context of their productio…
The Knowe of Rowiegar, Rousay, Orkney
The Neolithic chambered cairn at Knowe of Rowiegar, Rousay, Orkney, was excavated in 1937 as part of a campaign that also saw excavations at sites such as Midhowe and the Knowe of Lairo. Not fully published at the time, and with only partial studies since, the human bone assemblage has now been largely re-united and investigated. This included an osteological study and AMS dating of selected bones from this site and other Rousay cairns in the car…
Beaker people in Britain
Reconstructing diet at the Neolithic stalled cairn of the Knowe of Rowiegar, Rousay, Orkney, using stable isotope analysis
Material Culture, Museums, and the Creation of Multiple Meanings
This chapter aims to show that ideas of the sacred, the numinous, and the contested, rather than of the rational, are most important in understanding how the meanings of material culture are formed and the role of museums. It considers how museums have offered rich contexts in which the changing, conflicting, and multiple meanings of material culture have developed. Scottish national identity, contested and unsettled, is shown in the contribution…
Exploring co-production in community heritage research
Repatriation from Scottish Museums
Scotland’s museums include many collections that are the result of Scotland’s involvement in the British Empire. These include items that were fairly and legally collected, but also include items that were acquired as military loot, those that reflect power imbalances in favour of collectors, and ancestral remains that were acquired to demonstrate theories of racial supremacy. This past has left problematic legacies that museums in Scotland are n…
Giving and taking
The ethics of destructive sampling of human remains has become a critical debate, in part centred on developing minimally invasive techniques that simultaneously maximize information yield. While widely adopted best-practice guidelines have been developed, the proliferation of diverse analytical techniques results in incremental damage that compounds across studies, necessitating coordinated protocols to minimize cumulative destructive impact. He…
History (13 works) · Archaeology (12 works) · History (11 works) · Museums and Cultural Heritage (10 works) · Art (9 works) · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation (9 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Aesthetics (5 works) · Exhibition (4 works)