The Ethics and Outcomes of Using Archaeological Collections for Education

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ideas, Ethical Ideals, and Museum Practice in North American Archaeological Collections" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper discusses the ethical implications of using archaeological collections for education and outreach as well as the potential challenges that doing so poses to repositories and museums. We cover the benefits and burdens of accessioning donations, specifically discussing how to assess their potential value for teaching and research, and we compare the outcomes of using archaeological objects versus the rapidly growing body of alternatives, such as replicas, 3D-printed objects, and digital models. We conclude with how curators can make significant contributions towards education while upholding ethical standards. We use the Illinois State Archaeological Survey’s work with its Illinois Department of Transportation collections as an example and highlight the relevance of this work in light of recent legislation that mandates Illinois public schools include past and present Native American culture and history in their curriculum beginning in the 2024−2025 academic year.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ideas, Ethical Ideals, and Museum Practice in North American Archaeological Collections   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38444.0