Digging and destruction: artifact collecting as meaningful social practice
@article{Hart2015DiggingAD, title={Digging and destruction: artifact collecting as meaningful social practice}, author={Siobhan M. Hart and Elizabeth S. Chilton}, journal={International Journal of Heritage Studies}, year={2015}, volume={21}, pages={318 - 335} }
Collected sites are commonly seen as places requiring expert intervention to ‘save the past’ from destruction by artifact collectors and looters. Despite engaging directly with the physical effects of collecting and vandalism, little attention is given to the meanings of these actions and the contributions they make to the stories told about sites or the past more broadly. Professional archaeologists often position their engagement with site destruction as heritage ‘salvage’ and regard…
22 Citations
Transforming legacies, habits and futures: reshaping the collection at the Museum of European Cultures
- SociologyInternational Journal of Heritage Studies
- 2022
ABSTRACT Collection development presents a major challenge for contemporary museums as part of wider efforts to address their changing societal role. This article considers what could be learned from…
Awkwardness of becoming a boundary object: Mangle and materialities of reports, documentation data, and the archaeological work
- SociologyInf. Soc.
- 2016
The study posits that in order to be functional, a boundary object needs to provide a disclosure that makes it accessible to cognate communities and shows how assumptions about the functioning of the human and nonhuman artifacts influence the ways in which archaeologists conceptualize the preservation and archiving of archaeological information and the role and potential of different types of digital and paper-based documents.
Collaborate, Condemn, or Ignore? Responding to Non-Archaeological Approaches to Archaeological Heritage
- SociologyEuropean Journal of Archaeology
- 2015
What do archaeologists do when approached by groups or individuals with unorthodox, or even simply inappropriate, approaches to, and ideas about the past? What should they do? While much guidance and…
Artefact collecting: creating or destroying the archaeological record?
- History, Sociology
- 2020
This paper examines some of the arguments used by archaeologists in favour of collaborating with artefact hunters and collectors who claim that these activities produce information that is useful for…
Archaeologists, Treasure Hunters and Collectors: Heritage in the Spotlight
- SociologyHeritage
- 2019
This paper inquiries into different aspects involved in gathering archaeological materials practices in the contemporary world. Archaeological objects comprise an intricate network of interests such…
The Future of Studying Hobbyist Metal Detecting in Europe: A Call for a Transnational Approach
- Sociology
- 2016
Abstract Much research on hobbyist metal detecting has either focused on the archaeological impact only, conflated hobbyism with criminal activity (namely looting and illicit trade), or generalized…
Egypt's cultural heritage in conflict situations: examination of past and present impact
- SociologyFieldwork and Research
- 2019
In recent decades, the remarkable cultural heritage of Egypt has been threatened by loss or damage due to many conflict situations. These have led to looting, smuggling, vandalism, encroachment,…
‘I have better stuff at home’: treasure hunting and private collecting of World War II artefacts in Finnish Lapland
- History, Sociology
- 2016
ABSTRACT Almost all archaeologists encounter collectors of different kinds of artefacts at some point in their career, whether it is the private collectors of financially valuable antiquities or…
Students Are Stakeholders in On-Campus Archaeology
- SociologyAdvances in Archaeological Practice
- 2020
ABSTRACT A consistent challenge in community and collaborative archaeologies has been the appropriate identification and understanding of project constituencies. A key step in stakeholder analysis is…
Heritage for Sale! The Role of Museums in Promoting Metal Detecting and Looting in Romania
- SociologyHeritage
- 2018
The phenomenon of metal detecting in Romania is growing rapidly, with more and more cases being registered every year. In a context where there is less money for archaeological research, museums are…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 66 REFERENCES
LOOTING AND THE WORLD'S ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE: The Inadequate Response
- Sociology
- 2005
AbstractThe world's archaeological heritage is under serious threat from illegal and destructive excavations that aim to recover antiquities for sale on the international market. These antiquities…
Archaeological Site Looting in "Glocal" Perspective: Nature, Scope, and Frequency
- SociologyAmerican Journal of Archaeology
- 2013
The looting of archaeological sites undermines the preservation of cultural heritage. The purpose of this study is to broaden and refine our understanding of the nature, geographic scope, and…
Collaboration in Archaeological Practice: Engaging Descendant Communities
- Sociology, Biology
- 2007
This book discusses collaboration as a Transformative Mechanism for Archaeology, Conservation, and Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon, and the Ethics of Collaboration.
Can less be more? Heritage in the age of terrorism
- Sociology
- 2006
Abstract Western civilization does not have a particularly good track record of saving cultural heritage from destruction, but in recent centuries it has surrounded itself with a rather firm ideology…
The World of Tuscan Tomb Robbers: Living with the Local Community and the Ancestors
- Sociology, HistoryInternational Journal of Cultural Property
- 1996
Grave robbers, we all know, loot tombs for material gain. Recently, however, Italian tomb robbers, or tombaroli, have sought public attention by publishing their biographies and appearing on…
Cross-Cultural Collaboration: Native Peoples and Archaeology in the Northeastern United States
- History
- 2006
Foreword - Joe Watkins Introduction - Jordan E. Kerber Map Part One: Collaboration and Regulatory Compliance: Burials and Repatriation 1. Making a Final Resting Place Final: A History of the…
Heritage, Neighborhoods and Cosmopolitan Sensibilities: Poly-Communal Archaeology in Deerfield, Massachusetts
- Sociology
- 2011
Cosmopolitan sensibilities acknowledging mutual obligations and human interconnectedness can orient people navigating the complexities of neighborhood and other forms of community-based archaeology.…
Theory in Anthropology since the Sixties
- SociologyComparative Studies in Society and History
- 1984
Every year, around the time of the meetings of the American Anthropological Association, the New York Times asks a Big Name anthropologist to contribute an op-ed piece on the state of the field.…
Class confrontations in archaeology
- Sociology
- 1999
Archaeologist not only live class they also study it. Archaeology as a discipline serves class interests and as a profession, or occupation, it has its own class structure. The discipline of…
The Constitution Of Society
- Philosophy
- 1982
Edward Shils's attempt to work out a macrosociological theory which does justice both to the spiritual and intellectual dispositions and powers of the mind and to the reality of the larger society is…