Government Considering Relocating Walter Roth Museum

Aug 14, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
It was with great sadness that I read your article captioned above concerning the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology. As one of its co-founders with the late Dr. Denis Williams I wish to humbly state my opinion regarding this proposal. The collections stored and displayed in this building are not only very fragile but in 1980 when the anthropological collections from the National Museum were removed to the Walter Roth Museum there was considerable damage and loss of artifacts as a result.
Even after the death of Denis Williams in 1998 when the collections in his home on which he was working were removed, there was damage and loss of a considerable amount of his archaeological collections. Some had to be dumped as a result of lack of identification and also mixture of collections, as the storage facilities there then, were inadequate. We do not as yet have the expertise required for the removal of such delicate and very ancient artifacts dating back to some 7,200 years ago. I therefore appeal to the authorities concerned to please reconsider this move. I attach herewith a History of the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology.
HISTORY OF THE WALTER ROTH MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Founded in 1974, the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology formed in the mind of the late Dr. Denis Williams, Archaeologist, Writer and Artist, when pottery sherds and stone axes turned up on his Issano farm in the Mazaruni River of Guyana. Having worked as a draughtsman for archaeologists in Africa he recognized the importance of these artifacts and his study on the archaeology of Guyana, which culminated with his Prehistoric Guiana posthumously published by Ian Randle Publishers in 2003.
It was some five years later that the artifacts from his Mazaruni River excavations were housed at 61 Main Street, Georgetown the former Attorney General’s Chambers. This building was up for demolition in 1978 and being the then Chairman of the National Trust of Guyana, Denis Williams intervened and the building was handed over with the words – you will be walking on carpet in there. Rehabilitation commenced, as the building, which is believed to have been built by architect John Sharples between 1845 and 1913, wasalso considered to be a museum as it displays some of the historical architecture of colonial Georgetown. It is now listed as one of our historical landmarks.
Originally this museum was planned for Bartica because the majority of Denis Williams’ research at that time was conducted along the Mazaruni River and its tributaries. In 1980 the archaeological collections of the National Museum were transferred to the Walter Roth Museum. These included a collection of stone axes and implements from the Caribbean collected by Sir Everardim Thurn between 1879 and 1882, decorated pottery collected by Dr. Walter Roth in 1930, beads and other artifacts collected by his son Vincent Roth in the 1950s, a collection of burial artifacts recovered by J.J. Quelch from Plantation Mon Repos in 1894 and a collection of pottery from Joanna Creek in the Corentyne collected by Arthur Goodland in 1964. Collections from Cornelius Osgood, Archaeologist from Yale University, were unfortunately destroyed in the 1945 fire at the National Museum. The Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology was officially opened to the public in February of 1982 by visiting anthropologists from Puerto Rico including Prof. Allegria who cut the ribbon to declare it open.
Dr. Clifford Evans and Dr. Betty J. Meggers, Archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, later donated a type study of the seven ceramic phases they recorded during their 1952-1953 investigations in then British Guiana and Dr. George P. Mentore, Guyanese Cultural Anthropologist donated an ethnographic collection from his research among the Waiwai of southern Guyana. The museum now holds collections from all of the ten Administrative Regions of Guyana.
With knowledge of the prehistory of Guyana increasing through these investigations it was decided that children should be involved and the Junior Archaeology program with the theme Knowledge Makes A Country, was launched by Jennifer Wishart, Anthropological Officer in 1987. These were known as corresponding members to whom publications were mailed and from whom letters were received. Georgetown members met at the museum monthly to discuss the latest findings and as they moved into Secondary Schools were taken on field trips to archaeological sites where they were taught excavation techniques; participated in hands-on exercises in linguistic anthropology and cultural anthropology. It was directly as a result of this awareness program that a member from Kara Kara in the Linden area reported that in the vicinity of Omaimines bones of a prehistoric animal were recovered. This report resulted in the donation by Mr. Vieira of similar bones from the Cuyuni River area to the museum and the display of the Mega-T in the National Museum
Mr. George Simon, who had conducted archaeological investigations with Dr. Williams for many years, obtained his MA in Field Techniques in Archaeology from the University of London. Mr. Simon is known for his early investigations on the Central Guiana Coastal Plain, and more recently his work with Dr. Mike Heckenberger, and his University of Florida team on the Berbice River.
Following the death of Dr. Williams in 1998, Dr. Mark Plew, Archaeologist, Boise State University continued his work in Guyana. Dr. Plew founded the Denis Williams Summer School of Anthropologyin 2007. This field school enables students to experience hands-on training in archaeology. Mostly designed for university students a two-week in the field exercise is carried out and lab exercises are conducted based on their findings at the museum. This training includes use of texts on archaeology which are provided for the course. In 2011 the school was awarded its first scholarship with Ms. Louisa Daggers pursuing her MA in applied anthropology at Boise State University, Idaho. Ms. Daggers, who returned to serve as Guyana’s first female archaeologist and Administrative Manager of the Walter Roth Museum, is now the Coordinator of the Amerindian Research Unit at the University of Guyana with which the Museum collaborates. In 2016 the field school was joined by two students from Belize who are pursuing their master’s degrees in biology at the University of Guyana.
The Museum’s journal Archaeology and Anthropology was launched in 1978 with Dr. Williams as its editor and continued until his death in 1998. A few issues were produced by his assistant editor Jennifer Wishart . This journal has now become an online journal produced by Boise State University and edited by Dr. Mark Plew, Boise State University, Louisa Daggers and Jennifer Wishart.
Jennifer Wishart

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