Two interesting presentations had been planned as part of the MV training on 29 Sept and the trainees arrived bright and early.
First off was Karen Loh with an interesting talk titled Mysteries of Malaysian Shipwrecks. Karen is the President of Museum Volunteers as well as the Director of Nanhai Marine Archaeology, which has salvaged 10 shipwrecks off the coast of Malaysia in collaboration with the Department of Museums and Antiquities.
She discussed some of the shipwrecks found around Malaysian waters as well as the reasons behind the many shipwrecks found in the region. Most of the sunken ships excavated had been carrying ceramics from China, Thailand and Vietnam and Karen discussed the importance of these ceramics as time markers. The designs and styles of the ceramics change over time and hence can be used to ascertain the time-period of an archaeological dig. Karen also discussed the consequences of the Ming ban which saw a decrease in the supply of chinese goods.
Encik Ahmad Hakimi bin Khairuddin then discussed Archaeology in Malaysia. Encik Hakimi is a lecturer with Universiti Malaya (Department of Malay Culture) with a keen interest in cultural anthropology as well as archaeology. Encik Hakimi has a Masters of Arts in Anthropology from the Wichita State University and is currently pursuing his PhD.
En. Hakimi started off by explaining the difference between prehistory, protohistory and history. He then briefed the trainees on the stone and metal ages in Malaysia touching on possible homo erectus sites in Malaysia, the Gua Cha burial site and Kuala Selinsing, the earliest proto-historic site in the peninsula. He rounded off with a discussion on Lembah Bujang, the earliest Malay Kingdom in the peninsula. Throughout the presentation, En Hakimi stressed the importance of looking at a broader context to explain an archaeological find as well as the importance of not jumping to conclusions but taking the time to understand all the variables associated with a find. En. Hakimi left the audience with some thought provoking questions.
The trainees were engaged throughout both presentations and had lots of questions for both presenters. Next Saturday 6 October, the trainees can expect two more interesting talks – a presentation on Gallery A of Muzium Negara by Lawrence Maille, vice president of MV and a talk on presentation skills by Stuart Wakefield, secretary of MV.
Museum Volunteers, JMM 