The Canary Museum presents next Monday, May 13, an ambitious interdisciplinary research project: "Bodies, objects and spaces. Converging deaths, divergent deaths." Its objective is to advance the knowledge of the different societies that have inhabited the island of Gran Canaria, from the Aboriginal period until the middle of the nineteenth century, from the study of the burial manifestations. The act will begin at 11:00 a.m. with a presentation to the media and the general public by Diego López Díaz, president of El Museo Canario, and Teresa Delgado Darias, curator of the institution and principal investigator of the project. Below will be a guided tour by the project's research team, which will show some of the most outstanding materials that will be studied. The project has been
one of twelve works selected by the CajaCanarias Foundation and the La Caixa Banking Foundation in its sixth "Call for Aid to Research Projects 2018". The investigation w
ill pay particular attention to those mortuary expressions that depart from regularity, either by the circumstances of death, by the objects incorporated into the burial or by the characteristics of the enclosure that welcomed t
he body. Thus, as regards the Aboriginal period, a set of mummies with remains of dogs or bones of other people will be studied, which will allow to investigate the construction of identity and social memory. The study of the woods used in the preparation of some deceased and burials will also be addressed; the ritual deposit of pets in funeral contexts; the traces of episodes of lethal violence; or evidence of parasites that killed these human groups. In addition, the mortuary treatment conferred on children in pre-Hispanic and modern societies, or the burial practices in periods of crisis such as that caused by the cholera epidemic of 1851, will als
o be analyzed. Addressing this set of materialities that societies generate around death requires multidisciplinary work. For this reason, The Canary Museum has opted to shape a research team in which specialists from many different subjects meet. The project wa
s born with a determined vocation of dissemination, from which it will unveil the rich archaeological and archival heritage that houses The Canary Museum. To do this, the results achieved will be transferred to society through various tools, such as the 3D representation of certain archaeological pieces, publications, meetings and open days.
The development of the project can be followed through the website and social networks of El Museo Canari
o.With the presentation of this project, The Canary Museum begins the events organized to celebrate the International Day of Museums.