Hugh Raffles is Professor of Anthropology at the New School in New York. His most recent book is The Book of Uncomformities: Speculations on Lost Time (Pantheon).

Features
A giant amethyst geode from Uruguay, installed in the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Jewel identity – what can we glean from gems and minerals in museums?

In museums, minerals are both everyday matter and also objects of scientific interest – but they carry more intangible meanings too

18 Nov 2021
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Masterpiece [Re]discovery 2022. Photo: Ben Fisher Photography, courtesy of Masterpiece London

The Masterpiece podcast: episode three

This episode explores an ancient funeral stele, Marie Antoinette’s breast bowl, and how digital technologies are helping to preserve Egyptian heritage sites

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