#museumweek2018

The second day of Museum Week 2018 focuses on cities and the way they have inspired painters, sculptors, architects and other artists. Since our museum is part of a landmark (the Cinquantenaire Park) in Brussels, Belgium, we feel this is a unique opportunity to share some insights in the history of the Cinquantenaire Park and its buildings.

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The Cinquantenaire Park began rather small. In 1875, the city of Brussels decides to open a park on the ‘Plains of Linthout’, a vast stretch of land outside the city where the civilian militia held its excercises every sunday.

In 1878, this small parc is enlargened up to 12 hectares. Reason: the first national ‘Trade and Industry Exhibition’, planned to be held in 1880 as a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of the kingdom of Belgium (hence the name ‘Cinquantenaire’, roughly translated to ‘fiftieth year of existence’). A temporary triumphal arch in wood and plaster is erected, together with a temporary exhibitional hall.

In 1881, the parc is again enlargened up to 20 hectares with future events in mind. For the World’s Fair in 1888, the size of the parc is even further increased up to 30 hectares.

All these different exhibitions, fairs and World’s Fairs (1888,1897 and 1905) were the driving force behind the architectural development of the parc.

The third day of Museum Week is all about heritage. We are the proud keepers of a lot of Belgian archeological heritage. We’re happy to offer you a glimpse of the vast collections of prehistoric, Gallo-Roman and Merovingian material we have on display.

Our unique Merovingian and Frankish collection holds numerous objects from graves that were excavated at the end of the 19th century or in the first half of the 20th century. Most objects originate from Belgium and illustrate funerary culture, clothing, connectivity and Christianisation in the Early Mediaeval period. From an archaeological point of view this is one of the most extensive Merovingian collections from Europe.

Grave gifts reflect the status the deceased had in society, depending on the quantity, quality and the used materials (gold, silver, bronze, glass, precious stone...).  Weapons for the men, jewellery for the women and ceramics, combs and knives for both. On top of that, these objects show a connectivity with regions throughout and beyond Europe.

Merovingians

Written sources mention the Franks for the first time in the second half of the third century. They are a federation of several Germanic peoples rather than one nation. They offered military services to the Roman empire and are thus able to establish small kingdoms. A Salian dynasty, whose intial territory lay mostly in today’s Belgium, emerges from these kingdoms: the Merovingians.

The best known Merovingian king is Clovis (481-511 AD), both for his conversion to christianity and for his unification of the Frankish kingdom. He and his successors brought the areas of the Thuringians, The Alemanni and The Burgundians under Frankish rule.

Marilles brooch

The third day of Museum Week is all about heritage. We are the proud keepers of a lot of Belgian archeological heritage. We’re happy to offer you a glimpse of the vast collections of prehistoric, Gallo-Roman and Merovingian material we have on display.

After Julius Caeser conquers Gaul, Belgium becomes part of the Roman Empire. This results in a specific, interesting mix between cultures: the Gallo-Roman culture.

Our museum houses a large and unique collections of Gallo-Roman objects, most of them belonging to the elite. Lots of these objects were found in tumuli (graves). Tableware, toiletries in glass and metal, jewelry and other objects in precious metals... they were all found in the final resting places of the Gallo-Roman elite. This is also the reason why we have so many (almost) intact pieces: the graves protected not only the deceased, but also the gifts he or she took with them.

Gallic golden coins

Another important collection: coins. Our museum houses several coin treasures, both Roman and Celtic. Together with molds uses by counterfeiters they remind us of the importance, the use, the evolution and the instability of the monetary system introduces in our region by the Romans.

The third day of Museum Week is all about heritage. We are the proud keepers of a lot of Belgian archeological heritage. We’re happy to offer you a glimpse of the vast collections of Prehistoric, Gallo-Roman and Merovingian material we have on display.

Our collection National Prehistory is the biggest of its kind in Belgium. Starting almost half a million years ago right up to the Celtic period: the Belgian soil (and our museum) offers an extraordinary insight in the lives of our ancestors.

Stone Age

The silex artefacts gathered in our museum show how hunter-gatherers and the first farmers used and shaped their environment to their advantage.

The silex mines of Spiennes, Hainaut, were named UNESCO world heritage back in 2002. In the region around Mons silex was dug up in large quantities between 4250 BC until 3500 BC. The gains of this almost industrial style of mining were mostly ment for export.

The mining techniques used were rather advanced and were developed around 6000 years ago. Huge chunks of silex were dug up from up to 18 meters of depth using a complex system of holes and shafts.

Mining silex was a dangerous venture. Miners cut and carved the silex from the ceilings of horizontal shafts. This way the ceiling of the shaft collapsed onto bench like shapes who were carved out on the bottom of the shaft. As a result large pieces of silex were broken into smaller, more manageable parts.

Those smaller parts were then hauled up to the surface where they were processed into half finished products, ready for export.

Metal Age

The transition from stone age to metal age in Belgium (and the wider region) starts around 2000 BC.

One of the masterpieces from this period is strip of thin gold leaf, originally used to decorate a drinking horn. The decorations show mediterranean motifs: lotus flowers and palmettes.

It was found by accident in Eigenbilzen in 1871, in a rich celtic grave dating back to 400 BC. The strip of gold leaf, together with the other high quality objects in the grave, show the high status of the person buried there.