Lost in temporal translation: a visual and visitor-based evaluation of prehistory displays

Journal article

Abstract:: Prehistory comprises millions of years and encompasses a diverse range of social, cultural, economic and technological practices. Despite its widespread public popularity, understanding of the chronology and developments of this vast expanse of human history is frequently anachronistic. Here, the author uses the results of museum visitor questionnaires and tracking surveys to assess public preconceptions of prehistory and engagements with museum displays. In addition, the article documents and explores 173 prehistory displays in museums in England, identifying trends in representation. The results point to some significant representational disparities affecting the display of prehistory and highlights some opportunities for reimagining museum prehistory displays.

Files:: McDowall_2023_Lost_in_temporal.pdf

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Language:: English
Keywords:: prehistory

museums

representation

evaluation

display

visitor engagement
Pubs id:: 2127758
Local pid:: pubs:2127758
Deposit date:: 2025-06-03
ARK identifier:: ark:/29072/ora_54ea37dbd55e4f80a9b0778fe43cc00c

Copyright holder:: Felicity A. McDowall
Rights statement:: Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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