One of the most beautiful times in art and architecture—and some may say in sophisticatedsocial life—was the Edwardian period, the time from the beginning of the 20th century to the First World War (even though Edward VII died in 1910). In Europe, this time was known as “La Belle Epoque”—the beautiful period, which is generally…
Earlier in the year, controversial broadcaster John Banks’ contract with a radio station was terminated, because he seemed to agree with a caller that Māori were from a stone-age culture. Many commentators were enraged by such an offensive comparison. People pointed to signs of sophistication in traditional Māori culture to show that the caller was wrong. For me as an archaeologist the…