Made In Africa
This exhibition will be at Andover Museum from the 5th May to the 21st July.
Made in Africa is the title of a British Museum touring exhibition coming to Bolton Museum, Aquarium and Archive in March and April 2007, the only venue in the North West where it will be shown.
It is a unique opportunity for visitors to see some of the oldest man-made objects ever found; stone tools which represent the origins of every living person on Earth.
Scientifically, these objects unite the fields of archaeology, anthropology and palaeontology.
The main display consists of a chopping tool and two handaxes. The artefacts were discovered by Louis Leakey at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania during his first expedition there in 1931. At that time, most researchers believed humans originated in Asia, not Africa. Leakey disagreed, and these tools were the first evidence that backed his theory.
Cradle of Humanity
Today, it is broadly accepted that humankind originated in Africa. Not for nothing are Olduvai Gorge and the East African Rift Valley known as “The Cradle of Humanity”.
The oldest of the three objects is nearly two million years old. They are mans first technological invention and demonstrate the spark of creative genius that sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.
These tools represent the oldest known form of material culture anywhere in the world and the earliest form of man’s artistic endeavour.
The exhibition is part of the British Museum Partnership UK programme supported by the Dorset Foundation and is central to its purpose of sharing its collections and expertise as widely as possible.
The exhibition will be supported by regular handling sessions, and by a series of exciting events designed to complement the themes of Made in Africa
Handling Sessions
As well as the main display, Made in Africa features more tools from Louis Leakey’s 1931 expedition to Olduvai. These tools are not locked away in cases, but are there to be experienced by the public.
Museum staff and specially trained volunteers will be present to show you the objects and to tell you more about them.
This is a unique opportunity to touch objects with ancestry common to every one of us.
The handling table will be open 10.00 - 1.00pm and 2.00 - 4.00pm on every Saturday during the exhibitions stay. It will also be open across the Easter holidays (museum opening times apply).
Don’t miss your chance to get up close and personal with these remarkable objects.
Made in Africa Events
As well as the handling table and the main exhibition, Bolton Museum has put together a programme of talks and demonstrations that expand on the themes of human origins, ancient technologies and creativity.
The programme features speakers with backgrounds in archaeology, anthropology, palaeontology and Egyptology.
All talks and events are being held at Bolton Museum and are free to all.
Life in the Ice Age
Saturday 10th March 2007 10.00 - 12.00pm , 1.00 - 4.00pm
Discover what life was like for early man in Britain during the Ice Age.
These drop-in sessions will run all day and will show stone tools from British sites, look at their use, and even show how they were used to carve up meat!
Talk by Dr Jenni Chambers, National Ice age Network
Made in Africa
Saturday 10th March 2007 2.00pm
Over two million years ago our earliest ancestors invented the first tools. Since then all aspects of human life have come to depend on things we make and build. This talk will explore what we know about these early beginnings and how we have discovered them.
Talk by Jill Cook, Curator of the Old Stone Age Collection at The British Museum and deputy Keeper of the Department of Prehistory and Europe
Man and the Fossil Record
Saturday 17th March 2007 2.00pm
This talk will not only look at the appearances of humans in the fossil record, it will also look at how our relationship with the fossil record has influenced our culture more deeply than we may realise.
Talk by David Craven, Collections Assistant (Geology) at Bolton Museum
Flint and metal: working stone in Ancient Egypt
Saturday 31st March 2007. 2.00pm
How did the ancient Egyptians carve some of the hardest rocks in the world without modern equipment? Using flint, sand, reeds, and a lot of patience, that’s how.
The lecture will include practical demonstrations of Egyptian stone-cutting techniques with replica instruments.
Talk by Denys Stocks, independent scholar and experimental archaeologist
Stones and art in Ancient Egypt
Saturday 7th April 2007. 2.00pm
The Olduvai handaxes display what may be the oldest evidence of aesthetics – the conception of beauty – in the world. This talk will explore how, later in Africa, the ancient Egyptians valued stones for their physical, artistic, and magical qualities.
Talk by Tom Hardwick, Curator of Egyptology, Bolton Museum
Olduvai Gorge, the Leakeys and the Year of the Ghost
Saturday 21st April 2007 2.00pm
An insight into the Leakeys themselves as well as the wealth of artefacts excavated at Olduvai Gorge.
Derek Roe has worked with several of the Leakeys, including Louis Leakey, and was Mary Leakey’s biographer.
Talk by Derek Roe, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University
