Jared Schutt carefully positions a hydria (water vessel) from 600 BCE under the direction of Associate Professor Carrie Murray. Schutt’s exhibit “The Role of Wine in the Ancient World” features artifacts from the Department of Classics’ Cypriot Museum collection and will be on display in the International Centre until September 2019.Classics students spent the term journeying back in time to explore the dining practices of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Now, a new exhibit aims to give the Brock community a taste of that experience.
Curated by fourth-year student Jared Schutt, the exhibit, “The Role of Wine in the Ancient World,” features his research from CLAS 4V64 Food and Dining in the Ancient World with Associate Professor Katharine von Stackelberg.
Displayed in the Department of Classics within the International Centre, the exhibit explores the trade, transport and consumption of wine and features ancient artifacts from the department’s Cypriot Museum.
“This exhibit examines the role of wine in the ancient world, but also works to expand some of this research into modern ideas behind wine. For example, it shows the importance of moderate drinking in the ancient world, an idea still relevant today,” Schutt says.
In addition to classroom discussions about what types of food were eaten, by whom and when, students also participated in a number of tasting exercises and maintained their own mindful-eating logs.
By exploring their own eating habits, students were better able to analyze how food and drink was consumed in the ancient world.
While Schutt has worked in a museum setting before, this was his first experience curating an exhibit. The project involved several stages, from proposal to outline to a final catalogue.
“Each stage involved extensive planning for exactly what I needed and where everything would go,” says Schutt.
“I was excited and nervous about working with such ancient artifacts, but it allowed me to learn how to properly handle, care for and display them.”
Schutt, who will be starting a Master of Arts in Public History at Western University next fall, appreciates the opportunity for hands-on training in exhibit design and artifact handling.
“This project has certainly deepened my understanding and appreciation of more hands-on and educational museum collections like Brock’s Cypriote Museum,” he says.
The Cypriot Museum collection was started in 1970 and consists of 173 objects acquired through donations and purchases. Objects in the collection date from the Neolithic (4500 BCE) through to the Medieval period.
The exhibit will be on view in the Department of Classics until September.
