Crossing Borders and Crossing Subdisciplines: Blurring the Lines Between Archaeological and Ethnographic Collections Within Museums for International Repatriation

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Reimagining Repatriation: Providing Frameworks for Inclusive Cultural Restitution", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

With the Smithsonian’s recent announcement on adopting a “new, ethical returns policy” for their institutions, they have opened up the door for further discussion about international Repatriation efforts from American museums and institutions, as these fall outside the purview of NAGPRA. Despite the Smithsonian frequently “setting the standard” for other museums to look to for guidance concerning ethical collections care and management, many museums have already been working towards international Repatriation of collections on their own. This paper will look at two examples of international Repatriation efforts – as well as the ethics surrounding their potential retainment – of Peruvian Chancay vessels and Chinese Tang Dynasty tomb ceramics. With these examples, this paper will explore the incorporation of non-Western frameworks into crafting museum policy for the ethical keeping, care, and return of ceramics from these two distinct temporal and geographical contexts that bridge the gap between ethnographic and archaeological collections.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• Reimagining Repatriation: Providing Frameworks for Inclusive Cultural Restitution

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow