Blog

The Heather Halcrow Nicholson Knitting Collection is a knitwear enthusiast’s dream wardrobe and an extensive toolkit for the most advanced crafter. In the museum context, however, it is the memory of a time in Aotearoa New Zealand’s social history when life looked very different for most women.

The celebration of the ancient Olympics spanned a millennium whereas the modern Games have lasted (merely) 130 years. Though different in many ways, both Games have garnered special mystique for those participating, or even just attending. In this article, Deirdre Harrison, Collection Manager Archaeology investigates how much - or how little - the Games have changed.

In 1964 Tong Wong was the sole New Zealand photographer at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. His remarkable photos gave us back home a front row, and behind the scenes look at one of our most successful Olympics ever.

Small and easy to miss in a display niche on the Museum’s second floor lies a pocket-sized devotional collection, no bigger than the palm of a woman’s hand.

Making 3D models of objects is now a key part of museum practice, helping us analyse, conserve, and better understand items in our care. In this blog, Curator Archaeology Dr Josh Emmitt explores the applications of 3D tech at Auckland Museum, Aotearoa, and beyond.

Esteemed scholar and writer Mere Taito explores the dormant Rotuman practice of uha.

Beneath the bustling streets and modern skyline of Tāmaki Makaurau lie hidden stories and forgotten chapters relating to the people and places that shaped the city we know today. In this blog those stories are told through archaeological findings of Central Auckland.

For many New Zealanders the Gallipoli campaign persists as the defining experience of this country's participation in the First World War. It was not our deadliest, but the extreme difficulties of the landscape in which our soldiers were effectively trapped, the trauma of their daily existence and the sustained nature of their deployment in those conditions made a deep impact on our home population. This was not the war New Zealanders were expecting.

Archaeological tools of the trade. Take a tour of the kit that helps unlock the secrets of the past.

Coins can tell us about religion, politics, history, economics and cultural exchange, and even how the Ancient World has continued to attract attention long after the Fall of Rome. In this blog, summer student Alex Lewis examines some of the ancient Greek and Roman coins in our collection.

I am enough. You are enough. We are enough. Enough. Enough. Enough.

Shoelaces are a small, but integral part of rugby. And with the help of one Aotearoa team they've become a mighty symbol of pride on and off the pitch.