Archaeological reconstruction of ceramics in museum practice: principles, objectives, opportunities

The article reveals the functional possibilities of archaeological reconstruction of ancient ceramic products that are part of museum collections in the aspect of preserving and popularizing the archaeological heritage in museums. The main materials involved in the research were the results of scientific research in the field of archaeology, theory and practice of restoration work, as well as international and Russian normative legal acts regulating various aspects of the preservation and popularization of cultural heritage. The research methodology is based on a functional approach, while axiological and typological methods, techniques used in archaeological source studies, and methods of reconstruction of artistic and technical processes were important tools. The reconstruction of ancient ceramics, undertaken during archaeological research and carried out by means of experimental and technological methods, is analyzed. The functions of reconstruction in modern archaeological research are determined, and the essence of archaeological reconstruction itself as a process of modeling the corresponding artifacts is characterized. The significance of cultural stereotypes in this process is clarified. The stages of creating a ceramic product are consistently identified. The ceramic product (as, indeed, any thing created by people) is considered as a product of human creativity and at the same time as a source of information about a certain technology. It has been established that reconstruction methods in the field of preserving architectural monuments cannot be the only basis for studying its capabilities in a museum, since they do not go beyond collecting formal data about a monument and creating its analogue in the form of a graphic or three-dimensional model. The technological aspects of creating the material structure of the artifact remain undisclosed. Museum items are considered as elements of the informational text of culture. The modern practice of the reconstruction of ceramic products in museums by creating models using fragments of genuine artifacts has been studied and evaluated. The author concludes that archaeological reconstruction is an effective tool with which it is possible to study and popularize cultural heritage, keeping the originals intact. Conclusions are made about the identity of the goals of the museum and archaeological reconstruction, the set of educational and research tasks solved by archaeological reconstruction in a museum is revealed.