wk 13 looting part 1
TRANSCRIPT
ANT 102: Archaeology: Mysteries and Controversies
Looting: Taking ancient artifacts, usually for personal gain,without paying any attention to archaeological context
Nov. 12th: Looting
1. Recognizing multiple dimensions to a good question
3. Evaluating evidence
2. Recognizing multiple answers to a question or a problem
5. Exploring the ethical implications of differing approaches, methods or conclusions
4. Developing potential solutions to problems based on sound evidence and reasoning
Aspects of Intellectual Inquiry in the Social Sciences
Looting: Taking ancient artifacts, usually for personal gain,without paying any attention to archaeological context
1. Recognizing multiple dimensions to a good question
Aspects of Intellectual Inquiry in the Social Sciences
3. Evaluating evidence
2. Recognizing multiple answers to a question or a problem
5. Exploring the ethical implications of differing approaches, methods or conclusions
4. Developing potential solutions to problems based on sound evidence and reasoning
Looting: Taking ancient artifacts, usually for personal gain,without paying any attention to archaeological context
General introduction to lootingWhat, who, why, how
Why looting is bad
Is there anything good about looting?
Who should be blamed?
What is the scale of looting?
Can looting be stopped? How?
…An authentic Aztec representationof Tlazolteotl, the Aztec goddess of childbirth, filth, sin, and regeneration1400 AD.
An imaginedprop based on
Slack Farm, Kentucky
Dennis Banks
Slack Farm,Union County,
Kentucky
Aurich site, pacific coast of Peru
Slack Farm,Union County,
Kentucky
General introduction to looting
What: Taking ancient artifacts, usually for personal gain, without paying any attention to archaeological context
Who: Collectors (aristocrats), dealers (aristocrats), middle men, looters (poor people)
Why: Money, Curiosity, Cultural Capital (prestige)
How: from collecting arrowheads, to digging holes with pick and shovel, to mass destruction of ruins by bulldozers and other heavy machinery
Scale of looting
Aurich site, pacific coast of Peru
Classic Mimbres pots(1000-1130 A.D.)Arizona and New Mexico.
Looter’s trench ina Maya mound inBelize, Central America
Problems with looting
1. Destruction of archaeological sites
Looted Maya mound inBelize, Central America
Aurich site, Peru
Slack Farm,Kentucky
Problems with looting
1. Destruction of archaeological sites
2. Loss of information
Slack Farm,Kentucky
Slack farm case: lost opportunities to learn about…a) Trade and exchange
e) Relation between Slack Farm people and contemporary tribes
b) Nutrition, disease, age at death, genetic relatedness
c) Impact of European contact on native health d) Impact of European contact on local economy, politics, ritual
Problems with looting
1. Destruction of archaeological sites
2. Loss of information
3. Loss of context
--Where an artifact is found and what it is found with tells us what it was for
stone basin --grinding food?--grinding minerals?--collecting water?
Problems with looting
1. Destruction of archaeological sites
2. Loss of information
3. Loss of context
Maya inkwell carved with glyphsthat talk of a scribe/painter
--Where an artifact is found and what it is found with tells us what it was for
stone basin --grinding corn?--grinding minerals--collecting water?
Problems with looting
1. Destruction of archaeological sites
2. Loss of information
3. Loss of context
--Where an artifact is found and what it is found with tells us what it was for
stone basin --grinding corn?--grinding minerals?--collecting water?
Problems with looting
1. Destruction of archaeological sites
2. Loss of information
3. Loss of context
--Stratigraphic context of an artifact often tells us how old it is
--Where an artifact is found and what it is found with tells us what it was for
Stratigraphy
Problems with looting
1. Destruction of archaeological sites
2. Loss of information
3. Loss of context
--Where an artifact is found and what it is found with tells us what it was for
--What an artifact is found with can tell us about trade and long distance contact
--Stratigraphic context of an artifact is found often tells us how old it is
Representation of Andean Staff god, fromthe site of Tiwanaku, Bolivia (circa 800 AD)
Stone-work from Maya area, Mexico (circa 800 AD)
Screen capture from Raiders of the lost Arc
Maya vase:approx. 700 AD
Very specific case study about the info.we lose when we do not have context
Tikal
Naranjo
Holmul
Ucanal
Caracol
Buenavista
CahalPech
hieroglyphs
Tikal
Naranjo
Holmul
Ucanal
Caracol
Buenavista
CahalPech
Owned by Itsam BalamOf Ucanal
(according to hieroglyphs)
Owned by K’ak Til of Naranjo(according to hieroglyphs)
Tikal
Naranjo
Holmul
Ucanal
Caracol
Buenavista
CahalPech
What we can say WITHOUT context?
Owner was K’ak Til from Naranjo
Painter was Ah Maxam, a well-known master
Used for drinking chocolate
Part of Holmul style, Guatemala
We can’t say as much about most looted artifacts
What we can say WITH context?
Tikal
Naranjo
Holmul
Ucanal
Caracol
Buenavista
CahalPech
This pot, known as the Buenavista Vase, was excavatedfrom a nobleman’s tomb at the Belizean site of Buenvista
What we can say WITHOUT context?
Owner was K’ak Til from Naranjo
Painter was Ah Maxam, a master
Used for drinking chocolate
Part of Holmul style, Guatemala
Additional things we can learn WITH context
It was found at the ruin of Buenavista, in Belize
It was found in a burial of a young nobleman
K’ak Til was NOT the final owner
Final usage was not for drinking cacao
Found in a burial
Tells us about gift exchange among kings and subordinate leaders,a strategy for consolidating power.
Problems with looting
1. Destruction of archaeological sites
2. Loss of information
3. Loss of context
4. It is stealing
Hauberg stela
Maya culture
Probably fromGuatemala (nowin a vault in Seattle) butsince it is lootedwe don’t knowwhere it is from.
Is there anything good about looting?
1) Developing countries do not have the resources to preserve the past so it is better to loot artifacts and smuggle them to countries with more resources
--Poor quality museum and storage space
NOT NECESSARILY TRUE!
Royal tomb of Sipan, Pacific coast of Peru
Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan,Located in the city of Chiclayo, Peru