Bryan Cranstone
Bryan Allan Lefebvre Cranstone (1918-1989) was a British museum curator and anthropologist who specialised in comparative technology studies and the material culture of the peoples of Melanesia, especially Papua New Guinea.
Museum career
Cranstone was educated at St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge. Most of his museum career was spent at the British Museum, first as Assistant Keeper (1947-69) and then Deputy Keeper of the Department of Ethnography (1969-76).[1] In 1976 Cranstone was appointed Curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, until his retirement in 1985. The incoming director, Schuyler Jones, stated that 'Mr Cranstone's energy, enterprise, and devotion to the needs of the museum are greatly appreciated and will be long remembered. Much has been accomplished during his years as Curator.'[2]
During his time in Oxford he lectured on comparative technology and was preparing a book on the subject.[3] Cranstone was a visiting lecturer at University College, London between 1955 and 1971.[4] Cranstone also served as Vice-President of the Royal Anthropological Institute between 1980 and 1983.
Fieldwork in Papua New Guinea
Cranstone carried out anthropological fieldwork among the people of the Tifalmin valley of Telefomin sub-district of Sandaun (West Sepik) Province, Papua New Guinea in 1963-4, the first such fieldwork ever carried out by a curator from the British Museum.[5] He spent 3 months in the location with museum assistant D. J. Lee at the beginning of 1964, ostensibly to make and fully document 'a collection to illustrate as completely as possible the material culture of a mountain people whose way of life had not yet been substantially modified by Western influence'.[6] The British Museum has over 500 objects collected by Cranstone in Papua New Guinea, as well as hundreds of photographs taken by Lee.[7]
Selected publications
Cranstone, B.A.L. 1951. '83. Stone Age Man's Use of Power', Man, Vol. 51, (Apr., 1951), pp. 48-50
Cranstone, B.A.L. 1965. 'The British Museum Ethnographical Expedition to New Guinea, 1963-4: A Preliminary Report' , The British Museum Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 3/4 (Summer, 1965), pp. 109-118
Cranstone, B.A.L. 1961. Melanesia: A Short Ethnography. London: BMP.
Cranstone, B.A.L. 1967. 'Some boards from a New Guinea Haus Tambaran' , Man, New Series, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Jun., 1967), pp. 274-277
Cranstone, B.A.L. 1968. 'War shields of the Telefomin Sub-district, New Guinea' , Man, New Series, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Dec., 1968), pp. 609-624
Cranstone, B.A.L. 1971. 'The Tifalmin: A 'Neolithic' people in New Guinea', World Archaeology, Vol. 3, No. 2, Archaeology and Ethnography (Oct., 1971), pp. 132-142
References
- ↑ "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ↑ "1985-86 Annual Report". web.prm.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ↑ "Cranstone and technology". england.prm.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ↑ "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ↑ Shelagh Weir (1990) Memorial Address: Bryan Allan Lefebvre Cranstone, Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford, 21(3), 307-310
- ↑ Cranstone, B. A. L. (1965). "The British Museum Ethnographical Expedition to New Guinea, 1963-4: A Preliminary Report". The British Museum Quarterly. 29 (3/4): 109–118. doi:10.2307/4422903. JSTOR 4422903.
- ↑ "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
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