Ken Brassil Celebrating Anglesey Archaeology

It's the usual story, various things clashing, I'd eneded up missing the excellent series of Lectures to co-incide with the Llyn Cerrig Bach Exhibition at Oriel Ynys Mon. In fact this is our very own North Wales version of a "blockbuster", it's like having a Warhol retrospective or previously unseen works by Monet - the crowds came in - it was wonderful to see.

I was at the Opening, amongst the crowds and returned several times over Summer with various groups to see the Llyn Cerrig Bach exhibition - usually with visitors and archaeology groups many of whom came with us on the Mona Antiqua guided day trips around Anglesey's Ancient Monuments. We usually ended up visiting Din Lligwy in the morning and then arriving at Oriel Ynys Mon around 12-30pm for lunch. We then visited the exhibition, before or after lunch depending how hungry the group felt, but we always spent a wonderful 30 minutes examining the exhibition and discussing various aspects, the "why and when" of these amazing ritual deposits or "votive offerings" as the archaeologists like to call these things  - were these the evidence for the sacrifices and rituals of the Druids - does this make the whole thing "real" ? It would appear so.

Humble opinion here, but I felt that the Oriel Ynys Mon display did much more justice to the Llyn Cerrig Bach arterfacts than the display case in the Gwreiddiau /Origins gallery at the National Museum and the new space at Sain Ffagan will offer the Museum a new opportunity to present these artefacts in a new way. Change can be a good thing. Important of course to attract return visitors.

I'd missed Dave and Sue Chapman's talk, "Experimental Archaeology - reconstructing Anglesey's past". Ancient Arts are in may ways at the cutting edge, introducing practical considerations to the "academic" version / interpretation. There is a point to this, without starting WWIII, but you do need to test the theories. It won't happen in the Lecture Hall or the Library. I'll have to try and catch up with Ancient Arts soon ...........

But to return to Ken Brassil's talk. It's probably Ken more than anybody else that I have to thank for my partial and increasing return into the Archaeology Fold. We worked on the Caesws dig in the 1980s with CPAT, trowelling side by side - a friendship developed and it is one that I still highly value to this day.

I departed (detoured from) Archaeology to become a Music Manager via Punk Rock and Welsh Language Pop Music but my encounters with Ken over the years would always serve as a reminder - one day, when this music stuff runs it's course - you will return to archaeology. His encouragement and enthusiasm gave me that hand extended across the water - and gradually as music faded, the writing on Archaeology for Yr Herald Gymraeg and Adult Education classes that I gave for Coleg Harlech and Prifysgol Bangor took over - it was Ken in a way that was there shouting "Welcome Home" but it was a lot more organic than that in reality - but Ken's presence never seemed far away. There was no welcome back just total acceptance. I was not deemed as Elvis Costello once called himself "The Imposter".

I have always felt a bit embarrassed about my music career within Archaeological circles - how exactly do you explain punk rock gigs in anarchist squats in Bilbao or Berlin. You just don't go there. Nothing wrong with what we did, I'm very proud of what we did within the Music Scene but when I wear my archaeology hat I don't really think punk rock. (Maybe I should share hats more often ??)

However Ken Brassil's talk on Thursday night made it perfectly clear to me that you can apply Situationist and Pshycho-geography concepts to the very world we now inhabit. Pyscho-geography is as Malcolm MaClaren and Jamie Reid as it gets. Ken's lecture / talk / meanderings asked of us one thing - to re think about our relationship with the Museum, any museum but also he gave the whole thing a Welsh spin - who are we ?

From a Dali painting with a nude Mona (Sir Fon / Mon Mam Cymru) and a visible Gower Peninsula, from Charles Darwin and Adam Sedgwick at Cefn Meiriadog we fast tracked along a super fast highway, the Brassil-wide-web. We were challeneged and entertained in equal measure. This was pure edutainment meets the ramblings of a psycho-geographer. I don't know if Brassil was / is inspired by the Situationists but this sure as hell was the closest I've ever been to experiencing that particular clash of cultures. Reggae DJs used to have sound-clashes. This was an archaeology - museum culture - popular culture - Welsh Culture - soundclash of magnificent proportions.

Inspiring throughout, provocative throughout, I found it hard not to smile through the whole one hour and fifteen minutes. It's clear why Brassil inspires school children - he is prepared to hop over the fence and cycle up one way streets - the rules have to be there to be challenged if not broken. I think somewhere along the super fast highway Ken probably mentioned QUESTIONS - ask the questions - probably but I'm not sure because my brain had almost overloaded.

This really was one of the best, Kerouak style lectures I have ever attended - and here on Mona, the Island us musicians call Pop Island, home of the Druids, a fitting talk to bring the series to a close.

Diolch yn fawr i Oriel Ynys Mon.

A *Serenog indeed !