Teaching
Archaeology
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Unit 3
Museums
Museums are dynamic spaces undergoing major shifts in policy and ethics, since, historically, they have been sites of contention for many reasons. In this unit, students will gain insight into changes in museum policies on housing controversial art and culturally significant items.
Sapiens articles
The Many Hands Shirt: Reuniting a Family and an Heirloom
Sometimes objects in museum collections lead to a lot of conflict. In the best cases, though, they give rise to mutual respect and gratitude.
Confronting the Colonial Legacies of Museum Collections
The Humboldt Forum, a new exhibition venue in Berlin, has raised questions about museum restitution and the importance of researching objects' provenance.
Keywords
View All in Culture
![A vibrant, abstract scene features blurred blue and orange lights glowing outward from a central area, with silhouetted figures in the foreground.]()
![A person dressed in a red Santa Claus suit with white trim kneels on a military runway while speaking into a handheld radio. In the background are two rows of large military airplanes.]()
![An image focuses on two hands of a statue in shadow coming together holding a white flower.]()
![A line of cattle travel across a dry desert landscape, kicking up dust.]()
![On a quiet street at night, a small, glowing rectangular device rests on the sill of a stall window shuttered with a corrugated metal cover.]()
![An old bucket coated in multicolored limestone sits in front of a limestone-covered wall out of which protrudes a faucet dripping water that falls into the bucket.]()
Best of SAPIENS 2024
Anthropologists from around the globe brought dazzling insights and deeply reported concerns to the digital pages of SAPIENS magazine.
Unwrapping Operation Christmas Drop
An anthropologist takes a critical eye to a long-running holiday tradition: a U.S. military mission that drops toys and supplies throughout Micronesia.
Survival Notes
Black African women in former colonial centers such as London gesture to subversive ways of communicating with those imprisoned in archives across generations.
An Imagined Monograph for Nongqawuse
A 19th-century prophetess reportedly bore a serious message from the ancestors to her Xhosa people amid British colonial assault. The written archives judged her—but much still remains unknown and unacknowledged.
Phantom Vibrations of a Lost Smartphone
An anthropologist who studies human-computer interactions explores how and why losing one’s smartphone feels so unsettling.
Her Dirge
A poet-historian reflects on women’s labor carrying memories and the past.
View All in Heritage
![An image focuses on two hands of a statue in shadow coming together holding a white flower.]()
![People walk through a long, wide museum hallway with high arched ceilings and skylights framed by tall tan columns.]()
![A person wearing a dark blue shirt and a red umbrella hat walks through a lush field of tall green grasses.]()
![An old bucket coated in multicolored limestone sits in front of a limestone-covered wall out of which protrudes a faucet dripping water that falls into the bucket.]()
![The ruins of a gray stone building stand below a cerulean sky with fluffy white clouds.]()
![A black painted hand covered in red paint holds a skull figure decorated with floral patterns in shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Painted white with black accents to resemble a skull, the face—and also gray hair and flower headband—of the person holding the skull are blurry in the background.Cindy Ord/Getty Images]()
Survival Notes
Black African women in former colonial centers such as London gesture to subversive ways of communicating with those imprisoned in archives across generations.
Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue
In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy.
It’s Time to Replace “Prehistory” With “Deep History”
A team of archaeologists working in Southeast Asia is pushing toward a deeper understanding of history that amplifies Indigenous and local perspectives to challenge traditional archaeological timelines.
Her Dirge
A poet-historian reflects on women’s labor carrying memories and the past.
How Colonialism Invented Food Insecurity in West Africa
Archaeological evidence and Oral Histories show people in what is today Ghana lived sustainably for millennia—until European colonial powers and the widespread trade of enslaved people changed everything.
Harvest Song
A poet-anthropologist celebrates relatedness across difference in a poem that honors the festivals of Navratri, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Day of the Dead, and Halloween—all of which draw on otherworldly connections and mysteries.
View All in Indigenous
![People walk through a long, wide museum hallway with high arched ceilings and skylights framed by tall tan columns.]()
![A person wearing a dark blue shirt and a red umbrella hat walks through a lush field of tall green grasses.]()
![A line of cattle travel across a dry desert landscape, kicking up dust.]()
![A gnarled tree stands on a reddish cliff, beyond which stretches a landscape of deeply hued sandstone plateaus that an ox-bowed river cuts through.]()
![A whale’s tail appears above the water, creating white foam as it splashes on the ocean’s surface. A small bird flies in the background.]()
![An ancient circular stone structure lies exposed under the ground surface. In the distance, light-red and tan mesas and flat desert expanses lie under a piercing blue sky with scattered fluffy white clouds.]()
Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue
In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy.
It’s Time to Replace “Prehistory” With “Deep History”
A team of archaeologists working in Southeast Asia is pushing toward a deeper understanding of history that amplifies Indigenous and local perspectives to challenge traditional archaeological timelines.
An Imagined Monograph for Nongqawuse
A 19th-century prophetess reportedly bore a serious message from the ancestors to her Xhosa people amid British colonial assault. The written archives judged her—but much still remains unknown and unacknowledged.
Gathering Firewood—and Redefining Land Stewardship—at Bears Ears
At Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, a new co-management plan brings together federal agencies and a consortium of Native American tribes—revealing deep tensions over land rights and demands for environmental justice.
Protecting Ancestral Waters Through Collaborative Stewardship
The proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, along California’s Central Coast, would be the first of its kind in the U.S. to be nominated by Native peoples.
Digging Into an Ancient Apocalypse Controversy From a Hopi Perspective
When producers for a popular Netflix series sought a permit to film on public lands in the U.S. Southwest, many Native leaders objected. A Hopi tribal official, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, shares his views.
View All in Memory
![An image focuses on two hands of a statue in shadow coming together holding a white flower.]()
![An old bucket coated in multicolored limestone sits in front of a limestone-covered wall out of which protrudes a faucet dripping water that falls into the bucket.]()
![A close-up image features two stained-orange hands holding a cluster of objects that look like small, orange strands.]()
![A person stands inside a moving flame of yellow light while sparks fly out in all directions. A second person stands on the left side holding an umbrella against the sparks.]()
![A narrow, paved trail cuts through a grassy field and ends at a small white building in the distance that has a cross on its roof.]()
![A weathered hand grabs a tree branch laden with fresh green olives.]()
Survival Notes
Black African women in former colonial centers such as London gesture to subversive ways of communicating with those imprisoned in archives across generations.
Her Dirge
A poet-historian reflects on women’s labor carrying memories and the past.
The Land of Dreams
In a dystopian short story, an anthropologist imagines an alternate world in which Kashmiris are forbidden to dream.
A Call for Anthropological Poems of Resistance, Refusal, and Wayfinding
SAPIENS is seeking poetry submissions for a curated collection that will publish next year. Deadline: September 1, 2024.
Buried in the Shadows, Ireland’s Unconsecrated Dead
A visual anthropologist reflects on the history of cillíní, unmarked and mostly hidden burial sites in Ireland where loved ones continue to care for the dead.
A Palestinian Family’s History—Told Through Olive Trees
A new book chronicles a Palestinian family’s life and connections to their land over decades under Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
View All in Museums
![An image focuses on two hands of a statue in shadow coming together holding a white flower.]()
![People walk through a long, wide museum hallway with high arched ceilings and skylights framed by tall tan columns.]()
![Dozens of papers with text on them are punctured and strung horizontally on wires.]()
![An open window separates a pitch-dark room on one side from an illuminated teal exterior and light blue curtains blowing in the breeze on the other.]()
![Two side-by-side graphics depict skulls, one facing forward and the other in profile. Both images are outlined in blue and have sections shaded in yellow. The profile image has three red lines spanning across it in two V shapes.]()
![A large, tan cardboard box sits on a shelf with a label that reads “C2” below it. On two small pieces of black tape on the box’s front side, white letters read “Infant” and “Name Once Known.”]()
Survival Notes
Black African women in former colonial centers such as London gesture to subversive ways of communicating with those imprisoned in archives across generations.
Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue
In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy.
Archived Haints
SAPIENS’ 2024 poet-in-residence conjures the voices of those imprisoned in archives.
The Visit
SAPIENS’ 2024 poet-in-residence imagines a wordless conversation with a troubled figure from the past and considers legacies of marginalization during the figure’s life and in archives.
Learning From Snapshots of Lost Fossils
Not all fossil discoveries happen in the field. In museum archives, researchers found photos of remains from Paleolithic children who had belonged to a group of early Homo sapiens in Eurasia.
Infant, Name Once Known
A poet-anthropologist of the Chickasaw Nation honors infant remains historically used in teaching collections at the University of Illinois.
Professor Talking Points
- Museums are important spaces for learning and appreciating material culture over the course of humanity’s existence.
- Many museums have come under scrutiny for the ways in which they acquire and retain items that may have been obtained through theft or by means now deemed unethical.
- Curators, Indigenous communities, and nations as a whole are defining the meaning of cultural property and patrimony, debating repatriation, and contemplating how to appropriately portray clothing, art, sacred objects, etc., in museums.
Academic Articles
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Lowry, G.D. 1998. “Cultural Property: A Museum Director’s Perspective.” International Journal of Cultural Property 7 (2): 438–445.
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White, Shelby. 1998. “A Collector’s Odyssey.” International Journal of Cultural Property 7 (1): 170–176.
Student Discussion Questions
- What is cultural property, and why is it a salient topic in museum studies?
- What is the significance of repatriation for the communities and nations who demand it? Why do some museums oppose it?
- What ethical decisions should curators consider when deciding whether or not to display sacred items? Use examples from the readings.
- What does the 2017 SAPIENS article by columnist Steve Nash tell us about the kinds of relationships that are possible between marginalized communities and museums?
Activities
- Have students watch the TED-Ed presentation by J.V. Maranto “Why Do We Have Museums?” Then have them write a one-page perspective essay on whether they believe museums bring value to society and, if in the affirmative, what they feel that value is.
- Visit a local museum and write a paper critically analyzing the museum’s exhibits.
Additional Resources
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Article: New Yorker’s “Den of Antiquity: The Met Defends Its Treasures”
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Article: The Guardian’s “Should Museums Return Their Colonial Artefacts?”
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Article: The New York Review of Books’ “Whose Culture Is It?”
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Code: American Alliance of Museums’ Code of Ethics for Museums
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TED Talk: Neil MacGregor’s “2,600 Years of History in One Object”
Unit By
Eshe Lewis (2020)
Teaching
Archaeology
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Unit 4
Archaeology and Colonialism
