How the NMNH Rises to the Challenge of Using the Best Available Documentation for Repatriation

Summary

The NMNH Repatriation Program is charged under the NMAI Act to use the "best available scientific and historical documentation" to identify the origins of the human remains and objects in its collections. The nature of the museum means that the office can rely on the scholarship of Smithsonian curators for assistance. In addition, copious records in the National Anthropological Archive and in the Smithsonian Archives are present that relate to the collections. However, the records sometimes obfuscate rather than clarify the origins of the collections. Cataloging efforts by the museum have sometimes mixed artifacts that were distinctively organized by the excavator. This paper will illustrate some of the challenges that face the NMNH repatriation program in bringing the best available knowledge to bear on repatriation decisions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21269