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Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology Two million years of human history. One million artefacts. Countless astonishing stories 🌎
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We love the detail to be found in the cake moulds you can see in this old documentary photograph. The cakes they create ...
21/10/2026

We love the detail to be found in the cake moulds you can see in this old documentary photograph. The cakes they create wouldn't be suitable for Dessert Week on Bake Off though, as they are made from pure sugar.

Although this image was made in Cambridge, the moulds are from Malaysia and are part of a collection made by Walter Skeat. You can find about more about these moulds by visiting our collections poral using the link in the comments below.

The floral designs are stunning, but we have a fondness for the animal moulds, with the little fish and its carefully carved scales a particular favourite. Examples of some of these sugar cakes can be faintly seen at the bottom of the image, but which is your favourite design?



📸 P.46417.SKT Documentary photo of wooden moulds, a rolling pin, and sugar cakes from Malaysia, Cambridge, England. Photographer: Unknown, c. 1891-1910.

19/10/2026

As it's currently the Hindu festival of Durga Puja we had to show you where you can find this beautiful pratima (idol) of the goddess Durga, whose name means ‘invincible’ or ‘unpassable’ in Sanskrit.

Durga Puja celebrates the triumph of good over evil through Durga's defeat of the asur (demon) Mahishasura. This beautiful pratima was worshipped in Cambridge for 10 years before being donated to the museum.

When you next visit make sure to take a closer look at the incredible detail to be found in this sculpture.



📸 2017.27 Durga pratima, Kolkata, India. Artist: Mintu Paul, 2007.
🔗 https://collections.maa.cam.ac.uk/objects/565586/

Video description: A hand picks out a postcard featuring a ten-armed goddess riding a lion and slaying a demon with a spear. The postcard is carried through the gallery and held in front of the idol it depicts. Caption reads: "Finding the objects from the postcards".

We love how the artist has created the appearance of movement in this linocut. Ribbons of a subtly contrasting pattern w...
18/10/2026

We love how the artist has created the appearance of movement in this linocut. Ribbons of a subtly contrasting pattern wrap around the figures as they battle against the elements. Despite the image being a print, it still appears wonderfully textured.



📸 2014.169 'Windy Day' [Artist Proof 4/20], Rorke's Drift, South Africa. Artist: Jacob Matsose, ?1977.
🔗 https://collections.maa.cam.ac.uk/objects/555781/

17/10/2026

We're loving our range of Japanese homeware this autumn! From adorable bowls and chopstick rests (hashioki, 箸置き) to elegant chopsticks and chic bowls perfect for a warming meal of udon or ramen noodles.

Which piece would you be taking home?



Video description: The camera pans along a shelf displaying bowls with cute animal designs, flowers, and lines and swirls of colour on them. In front are smaller bowls with pairs of chopsticks on top and three sets of chopstick rests in the shape of whales, fish, and dogs.

Congratulations to Grace Grandfield on winning The Val Whittaker Memorial Prize with her work on a Teotihuacan style mas...
16/10/2026

Congratulations to Grace Grandfield on winning The Val Whittaker Memorial Prize with her work on a Teotihuacan style mask cared for at MAA.

Grace explains that her interest in the mask, which is believed to date from between 100 BCE and 350 CE, began in a lecture by University of Cambridge Associate Professor in Archaeology Dr Liz DeMarrais. Grace was "immediately drawn to the solemn and ambiguous features of this mask, which seemed to give little away. It struck me as a fascinating puzzle to try to ascertain some significance of this mysterious face within a similarly mysterious society."

Sadly, the records for the mask do not hold much information, so Grace's work provides important context and attention to this striking piece. Grace argues that the mask may represent a mock trophy head and that stone faces like this one provided "a medium of individual expression and differentiation rather than solely as a symbol of shared citizenship".

The Val Whittaker Memorial Prize is awarded by the Cambridge Archaeology Field Group (CAFG) with the aim of encouraging people of all ages who are studying archaeology.

📸 Cambridge Archaeology Fieldwork Group President Stephen Macaulay awards the Val Whittaker Memorial Prize to Grace Grandfield. Image courtesy of the Cambridge Archaeology Fieldwork Group.

Did you know that amongst the thousands of objects we care for, the collections at MAA contain a pair of mushrooms?As it...
15/10/2026

Did you know that amongst the thousands of objects we care for, the collections at MAA contain a pair of mushrooms?

As it's we had to share one of these Tiger Milk mushrooms with you! The mushroom, which is called cendawan susu rimau in Malay and 虎乳灵芝 in Chinese, gets its name from the milky white insides of its underground structure, the sclerotium. According to legend the mushroom first grew from a spot where a tiger spilled her milk whilst feeding her cubs.

Found in the rainforests of East and Southeast Asia these mushrooms have historically been consumed or applied to the skin by Orang Asli (Indigenous inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia), Malays and Chinese to treat respiratory conditions, fevers, joint pains, and cancer. This Indigenous knowledge is now recognised worldwide. Since the early 2010s Tiger Milk mushrooms have been grown commercially for their anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidising, and anti-coagulating properties.

Discover why this mushroom was collected by Walter Skeat and why it was classified as a 'charm' by visiting our blog: https://www.maadigitallab.org/blog/2025/11/04/the-supernatural-and-the-superfood-two-objects-from-the-malay-peninsula-in-cambridge-collections/



📸 Z 33423.1-3 Tiger Milk mushroom, Malaysia. Collector: Walter Skeat. Image courtesy of Liana Chua, 2025.

After watching Bread Week on the Bake Off we had to search our collections portal to discover what bread-related objects...
14/10/2026

After watching Bread Week on the Bake Off we had to search our collections portal to discover what bread-related objects we care for, and we found this bread mould.

The mould is over 5,000 years old and highlights the importance of bread to the ancient Egyptians. Alongside b**r it was one of the staples of diets across society for both the living and the dead. Loaves of bread were left in tombs as provisions for the deceased in the afterlife, with some even being found in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

It would have many more moulds like this one to produce enough loaves to feed the workers who built the Great Pyramid of 4th Dynasty Pharaoh Khufu. Archaeological evidence suggests that as part of the compensation for their labour they were given bread and b**r daily.



📸 Z 16796 A.1 Bread mould, Egypt, Predynastic.

Last night's Pottery Throw Down final has once again inspired us to explore our collections portal, and we came across t...
12/10/2026

Last night's Pottery Throw Down final has once again inspired us to explore our collections portal, and we came across this striking linocut of a pottery workshop!

In the scene a woman with a baby strapped to her back rolls out a lump of raw clay to flatten it and prepare it for crafting into a pot. This preparatory technique suggests the pot will be slab-built rather than being created on a wheel. The pot would be created by joining together other clay slabs or by shaping the clay over or around a mould.

Meanwhile, the man sitting opposite the woman appears to be making the final touches to the pot he is holding before it is fired. The completed pots above their heads look like they have been
decorated with either incised or cut-out diamond patterns.



📸 2014.172 'Potter's Workshop', Rorke's Drift, South Africa. Artist: Azaria Mbatha, 1962.

As the days are getting colder and shorter it's the perfect time to curl up with a good book.Halloween and Día de los Mu...
10/10/2026

As the days are getting colder and shorter it's the perfect time to curl up with a good book.

Halloween and Día de los Mu***os (Day of the Dead) are just around the corner, so perhaps you'll choose Christopher Dell's 'Monsters: A Bestiary of the Bizarre' or brighten up your day colouring in a sugar skull design. Maybe a book on the history of witchcraft is more your cup of tea, or Professor Alice Robert's 'Crypt', a fascinating look at life, death and disease.

Which would you pick as your next read?

Sadly, we know very little about this photo. We don't have names recorded for the two men pictured, nor are we sure wher...
09/10/2026

Sadly, we know very little about this photo. We don't have names recorded for the two men pictured, nor are we sure where the cave is located. However, we love the drama of the image and the way one of the archaeologists is silhouetted against the cave mouth.


📸 T.171854.ARC Archaeological field excavation, ?Europe/Africa. Photographer: Unknown, c. ?1970s.

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