First Class After the Break

Today in class we discussed artifacts and their significance. We were shown a phrenology bust and told to figure out what it was. Phrenology was the study of the brain and its functions. The word comes from the Greek words phrēn (mind) and logos (knowledge). We discovered that the "artifact" shown to us was actually no more than a replica that was less than 15 years old. The bust was used to show the different areas of the brain and how each area affected a person.The practice of phrenology is no longer taught due to the lack of technology when the theories were formed and, with todays scientific advancements, it has been more reliably discovered the actual functions of the brain. With this being said, there were people still supporting and practicing the beliefs of phrenology up until 16 years ago. Today, this practice is most similar to psychology. We were also told to look up the word "provenance". We were told the word has something to do with the origin of an item but, to our surprise, were still told to go figure out the true meaning ourselves. According to google, the word simply means " the place of origin or earliest known history of something". 

Phrenology Bust by L. N. Fowler