Where

Just as we locate our subject in time, we also need to locate it in space.

Where was this art or technology created or used?

This information helps us understand how the subject's geographical location influenced its design, function, or significance.

Papunya region

By 'place', we could mean a broad region:

Contemporary Aboriginal art first emerged in the 1970s from the Papunya region. In 1971 a young schoolteacher working in the region encouraged his class to create artworks inspired by their own heritage. Elders and others in the community soon became involved and the contemporary Indigenous art movement began. This movement spread through many regions and communities in Central Australia.

"Aboriginal contemporary art"

Qin_Shi_Huang_Mausoleum_(Terracotta_Army)

Shi Huangdi's mausoleum (Source)

Or it could mean a precise location:

The mausoleum of Shi Huangdi, actually an entire multi-burial complex which covers an incredible 35 to 60 square kilometres, was discovered in 1974 CE buried at the foot of the artificial Mt. Li near Lishan (modern Lintong), 50 km east of the Qin capital Xianyang in Shaanxi Province, central China.

Terracotta Army

Roman road network (Source)

History is so concerned with place that a lot of history writing and media comes with maps.

For example, the Roman road network was a massively important piece of technology in ancient history. This map helps you quickly understand why Romans used to say, "All roads lead to Rome."

Written descriptions of locations are often easier to understand when supported by maps.

For example, you'll find this snippet about toilets in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii is easier to understand when you look at this map of the toilets, see how many were sprinkled throughout the city, and imagine all that poop!

Public and private toilets were sprinkled throughout the city of Pompeii. But despite the city’s sewer infrastructure, virtually none of these toilets had sewer connections.

"Talking heads: what toilets and sewers tell us about ancient Roman sanitation"

Map of Pompeii toilets (Source)

What place language did we see in these snippets?

Emerged from the Papunya region...
Spread through many regions...
Buried at the foot of Mt Li...
Near Lishan, 50 km east of Xianyang...
In Shanxi...
Sprinkled throughout the city of Pompeii...

Plus the visual language of maps.

To celebrate your newfound appreciation for place, why don't you try guessing where an artifact came from?

Masks of the World is a blog run by two mask enthusiasts, Bob Ibold and Troy Yohn, who help identify masks from—you guessed it—around the world.

Here's one mask a reader sent to them. Can you make a guess where it's from?

Mask (Source)

Where in the world do you think this mask was made? (And how specific do you dare to be?)

Here's what Troy said:

We believe that this might be an authentic Dayak mask from Borneo. Aaron also informs me that we can’t be sure if it’s authentic because there have been quite a few re-created (fake) Dayak masks coming out of Bali and Java. (Source)

Going deeper

Troy wasn't completely sure! So he reached out to another expert, who suggested it might be a mask made by one of the Dayak peoples in Borneo. According to Wikipedia, Dayak refers to more than 200 different ethnic groups who live primarily in the central and southern regions of Borneo.

BUT Aaron isn't confident either, because replica masks are being made in Bali and Java to sell to tourists or uninformed collectors. Maybe if he was able to look at the mask in person rather than just a photo, he might be able to narrow it down further.

And here's a map, so you can see which islands we're talking about:

Describing historical arts & technologies