Piecing back the puzzle: objects, inventories, and the problem of classification

A wolf’s tooth in a silver setting in the Victoria and Albert Museum and a wolf’s tooth in a silver setting in the Prague City Archives: bringing together these two items, this article examines the interrelation of material and textual sources in museums and archives. Artefacts require the contextualisation of documentary evidence, and the textual record requires an understanding of the material forms to which they refer. However, this is vulnerable to a problematic circularity. Dominant historical narratives tend to dictate how objects are categorized in museums. This shapes their interpretation, the stories that are told about them and even how they can be found by the researcher. Yet, the thing “out of place” – that resists these categories – can often be the most telling about historical lacunae, for example of everyday beliefs and practices. To piece the evidence back together, I here propose restoring dialogue between textual and non-textual records and paying special attention to geographical and subaltern aspects of archival and museological practice.