Wk 13 looting part 1
- 1. ANT 102: Archaeology: Mysteries and Controversies Nov. 12th: Looting Looting: Taking ancient artifacts, usually for personal gain, without paying any attention to archaeological context
- 2. Looting: Taking ancient artifacts, usually for personal gain, without paying any attention to archaeological context Aspects of Intellectual Inquiry in the Social Sciences 1. Recognizing multiple dimensions to a good question 2. Recognizing multiple answers to a question or a problem 3. Evaluating evidence 4. Developing potential solutions to problems based on sound evidence and reasoning 5. Exploring the ethical implications of differing approaches, methods or conclusions
- 3. Looting: Taking ancient artifacts, usually for personal gain, without paying any attention to archaeological context Aspects of Intellectual Inquiry in the Social Sciences 1. Recognizing multiple dimensions to a good question 2. Recognizing multiple answers to a question or a problem 3. Evaluating evidence 4. Developing potential solutions to problems based on sound evidence and reasoning 5. Exploring the ethical implications of differing approaches, methods or conclusions
- 4. General introduction to looting What, who, why, how What is the scale of looting? Why looting is bad Is there anything good about looting? Who should be blamed? Can looting be stopped? How?
- 5. An imagined prop based on …An authentic Aztec representation of Tlazolteotl, the Aztec goddess of childbirth, filth, sin, and regeneration 1400 AD.
- 7. Slack Farm, Union County, Kentucky Dennis Banks
- 8. Slack Farm, Union County, Kentucky Aurich site, pacific coast of Peru
- 12. 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
- 13. Scale of looting Aurich site, pacific coast of Peru
- 14. Classic Mimbres pots (1000-1130 A.D.) Arizona and New Mexico.
- 15. Looter’s trench in a Maya mound in Belize, Central America
- 16. Problems with looting 1. Destruction of archaeological sites
- 17. Looted Maya mound in Belize, Central America Aurich site, Peru Slack Farm, Kentucky
- 18. Problems with looting 1. Destruction of archaeological sites 2. Loss of information Slack farm case: lost opportunities to learn about… a) Trade and exchange 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 e) Relation between Slack Farm people and contemporary tribes Slack Farm, Kentucky
- 19. 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?
- 20. 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? Maya inkwell carved with glyphs that talk of a scribe/painter
- 21. 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?
- 22. 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 --Stratigraphic context of an artifact often tells us how old it is Stratigraphy
- 23. 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 --Stratigraphic context of an artifact is found often tells us how old it is --What an artifact is found with can tell us about trade and long distance contact
- 24. Representation of Andean Staff god, from Screen capture from Raiders of the lost Arc the site of Tiwanaku, Bolivia (circa 800 AD) Stone-work from Maya area, Mexico (circa 800 AD)
- 25. Very specific case study about the info. we lose when we do not have context Maya vase: approx. 700 AD
- 26. Holmul Tikal Cahal Buenavista Pech Naranjo Ucanal Caracol
- 27. hieroglyphs Holmul Tikal Cahal Buenavista Pech Naranjo Ucanal Caracol
- 28. Holmul Tikal Cahal Buenavista Pech Naranjo Ucanal Caracol Owned by K’ak Til of Naranjo Owned by Itsam Balam (according to hieroglyphs) Of Ucanal (according to hieroglyphs)
- 29. What we can say WITHOUT context? Part of Holmul style, Guatemala Used for drinking chocolate Owner was K’ak Til from Naranjo Painter was Ah Maxam, a well-known master We can’t say as much about most looted artifacts What we can say WITH context?
- 30. Holmul Tikal Cahal Buenavista Pech Naranjo Ucanal This pot, known as the Buenavista Vase, was excavated Caracol from a nobleman’s tomb at the Belizean site of Buenvista
- 31. What we can say WITHOUT context? Part of Holmul style, Guatemala Used for drinking chocolate Owner was K’ak Til from Naranjo Painter was Ah Maxam, a master Additional things we can learn WITH context It was found at the ruin of Buenavista, in Belize Found in a burial Final usage was not for drinking cacao It was found in a burial of a young nobleman K’ak Til was NOT the final owner Tells us about gift exchange among kings and subordinate leaders, a strategy for consolidating power.
- 32. 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 from Guatemala (now in a vault in Seattle) but since it is looted we don’t know where it is from.
- 33. 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!
- 34. Royal tomb of Sipan, Pacific coast of Peru
- 48. Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan, Located in the city of Chiclayo, Peru