The study of archeology is difficult to understand. The museum displays the content and significance of archaeology research results through its exhibitions. For visitors, one of the easiest ways to understand a culture within a short time is through the museum exhibition and docents’ interpretations. How do docents transform the role of the visitor to that of the docents during the process of interpretation? How do visitors interpret and imagine the pre-historic culture during the tour guide? These are the main concerns of this study.
This research takes the “National Museum of Prehistory”（NMP） as a case study. Through the observations and interviews with docents, this research on the one hand intends to investigate the content of exhibition and how the docent receive information and transform the difficult knowledge of archeology to shape their interpretations and cultural imaginations. On the other hand, this research will also explore the visitors’ experiences and interpretations by questionnaire. Apart from excavated artifacts, the museum displays a lot of images of the aborigines and models to reconstruct the pre-historic culture of Taiwan. Docents’ interpretations apply not only the information provided by the museum but also employ the technique of role-play to emphasize the value of Peinan culture and the identity of Taitung. Other techniques such as story-telling, connection with visitors’ experiences and comparison also help to shape visitors’ imagination of pre-historic culture. The questionnaire results show that the museum constructs a timeless moment of pre-historic life which shapes visitors’ positive views toward pre-historic life. Visitors agree mostly with docents’ interpretations also imply that the docent plays an very important role in facilitating visitors’ understanding and interpretations of pre-historic culture.
