Remorseful Returns: What to do with Returned Surface-Collected Items from National Park Service Units

Summary

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Millions of surface-collected artifacts (and natural features for that matter) have been and are being stolen from public lands by visitors. Some are returned, often with letters indicating guilt and remorse. Most of these items have little to no provenience information attached. This paper demonstrates the broad range of items being stolen from National Park Service units across the country, with a focus on the Southwest; discusses what is returned and the circumstances under which items are returned; gives a brief synopsis of the remorseful letters and the reasons for returns; and explains under what conditions returned items are accessioned and cataloged into the Sunset Crater Volcano, Walnut Canyon, and Wupatki collections in particular.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23491