Natural History Museum : The Definition of a Place

This morning in class, we study the concept of  “Place” ,  and how this is defined and/or constructed by different  entities.  While visiting the Natural History Museum of Ireland, I couldn’t help to think about what we learned in class. This made my experience even more significant.  In his texted, Cresswell mentioned a scholar (lukermann) who believed that place was integration of nature and culture at an specific location (Cresswell,33). The Natural history museum  happens to be exactly that. We had the opportunity to contemplate a very large zoological collection, and to learned a little more the habitat of these species as well as their role , and interaction  with humans among the years. The Natural History Museum lives up to the definition that Cresswell provides in his text, for it is a place that reflects the understanding of the world in the eyes of humanity. The clearest example of this is the exhibition of the Great Irish dear , which is appears in the photograph below.

The Great Irish Dear  is an animal that lived around 12, 000 years ago, during the last years of Ice Age. Thanks to what society has accomplished, scientist have been able to draw conclusions based on the general understanding of the world to explain this animal’s diet, behavior,habitat , origin, interactions with other species, as well as possible causes of extinction. In addition, this piece in the Natural History Museum served to prove that time can become space, and space a place. When observing this piece many images came into my mind. For a moment I could see this beautiful creature wondering around the ice sheets.  In that sense I was able to identify with the phenomenology approach : I was able to create a place beyond my physical location.