One important question archaeologists face today is how to best preserve the world’s heritage. Are ancient artifacts safer in more modern museums or should they reside in their country of origin?  The Greeks and British have debated over this issue for years due to some of the world’s most famous artifacts: the Elgin Marbles.

Picture of the present day Parthenon with missing frieze
Photo by: Marissa Kokinis

The story all begins with Lord Elgin. At the time Greece was under the control of the Ottomans and Elgin was the acting British Ambassador to the empire.  Lord Elgin came to an agreement with the Ottoman Sultan to make casts and paintings of the Parthenon sculptures to take back to England with him, but through questionable means Elgin gained permission to “take away some pieces of stone with old inscriptions and figures,” (Sánchez, 2017).  Elgin went on to remove most of the Parthenon’s frieze along with other statues, but after falling into debt he sold the marbles to the British government.  

The horsemen from the west frieze of the Parthenon as displayed in the British Museum

After gaining independence the Greeks asked for the Elgin marbles to be returned, but as of now they remain in the British Museum causing a huge debate.  Those opposing their return argue that Lord Elgin had the legal documents to take the marbles, paid the Ottoman Empire appropriately, and that the marbles have been safely displayed in the British Museum for over 200 years, whereas they could have been completely destroyed had they remained in Greece.  Those in favor of returning the marbles to Greece argue that these marbles are a symbol of Greek heritage and that Elgin did not actually use legal means to obtain the marbles.  Others are concerned the marbles will be damaged if they are returned to Greece, as archeologists say current sculptures at the Acropolis are threatened by air pollution, but Greek archaeologist Alexandros Mantis says that Greece can prove to the British they are capable of taking care of their artifacts by moving these sculptures to the museum and that Greece deserves to have the marbles returned (AFP, 2008).  There are also arguments that the British Museum is more suited to host the Elgin marbles, but the New Acropolis Museum, which opened in 2009, is now fit to host any of the Acropolis’ ancient artifacts.  

The New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece

Archaeologists play a large role in preserving the world’s heritage and should participate in debates over questions such as, are there cases where certain artifacts are better preserved in more developed countries? Or if a country requests the return of their artifacts should they be returned even if it might endanger the artifacts? These questions will not be answered overnight, but archaeologists can offer unique opinions on these issues with their knowledge of cultural identity and desire to preserve world heritage.

Sources:

Sánchez, Juan Pablo. “How the Parthenon Lost Its Marbles.” National Geographic, 28 Mar. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/03-04/parthenon-sculptures-british-museum-controversy/.

Silverman, Helaine. Contested Cultural Heritage. New York, NY, Springer, 2014.

King, Dorothy. The Elgin Marbles. London, Arrow, 2007.

Dorment, Richard. “The Elgin Marbles will never return to Athens – the British Museum is their rightful home.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 30 June 2009, www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/richard-dorment/5699534/The-Elgin-Marbles-will-never-return-to-Athens-the-British-Museum-is-their-rightful-home.html. Accessed 7 Nov. 2017.

Flows, Capital. “The British Museum Should Return The Parthenon Marbles To Greece.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 26 Dec. 2014, www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/12/23/the-british-museum-should-return-the-parthenon-marbles-to-greece/#b936d6029e5a.

AFP. “Archaeologist says pollution threatening last Parthenon marbles.” ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 13 Apr. 2008, mobile.abc.net.au/news/2008-04-13/archaeologist-says-pollution-threatening-last/2402058. Accessed 7 Nov. 2017.

Pictures (In order of appearance):

Parthenon. 7 July 2017.

“Horsemen from the west frieze of the Parthenon.” British Museum, British Museum, www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/galleries/ancient_greece_and_rome/room_18_greece_parthenon.aspx. Accessed 7 Nov. 2017.

Daniilidis, Nikos. “A nightview of the Parthenon Sculptures of the Acropolis Museum, opposite the Sacred Rock and the actual monument.” Themanews, 29 July 2014, en.protothema.gr/opinion-professor-dimitrios-pandermalis-president-of-the-acropolis-museum/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2017.

Additional Resources:

Johnston, Ian. “First-Ever legal bid for return of Elgin Marbles to Greece thrown out by European Court of Human Rights.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 19 July 2016, www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/elgin-marbles-return-greece-legal-bid-thrown-out-eu-court-human-rights-a7145216.html.

Robertson, Geoffrey. “Let’s do a Brexit deal with the Parthenon marbles | Geoffrey Robertson.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Apr. 2017, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/04/brexit-deal-parthenon-marbles.

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The adage goes that if we do not learn from our past than we are bound to repeat it. Nowhere is this clearer than when we look at the fall of the Roman Empire and the social and financial situations prior. Before the collapse of the Roman Empire, the top 1% of its population controlled over 16% of its wealth. The Gini coefficient; which measures the level of income disparity in a society where 0 is perfectly equal and 1 is perfectly unequal, measured Rome at an incredibly high 0.43[1].

Diocletian’s Palace, Croatia. Built at the turn of the 4th century for Roman emperor Diocletian.

Further compounding the issue was that wealthy Romans increasingly removed themselves from cities and positions of power as they saw the first signs of collapse from the edges of the empire. This is made very clear in the archaeological record where before the end of the Roman Empire there was a large spike in fortified villas far from cities and people[2].“Their disinclination to lead may have been caused by forced exactions, confiscations, business concerns, tax pressured, or general economic fears, which made protecting one’s own interests seem more prudent than looking out for the interests of others.”[3] In their selfishness the upper class romans abandoned their people when they needed them most, only further destabilizing Rome.

Worsening matters was the fact that Rome had been built on expansion, militarism, and the spoils of war. “Being Roman eventually meant being whatever wealth said it was, and shorn of the old ties that kept the rich and poor together out of a mutual sense of common destiny, they soon turned on one another.”[4] Soldiers and common citizens could no longer trust that they would get what was “theirs” as the ruling upper-class tended to keep all of their wealth to themselves while maintaining slaves who did all of the work of the typical middle working class. All that was left for citizens and soldiers was economic squalor as wealth continued to be inherited by the rich, and labor was taken by the slaves of war.

Rendition of daily life in Pompeii showing interaction between upper and lower class peoples.

These are just a couple reasons for the fall of Rome, but what is perhaps most terrifying about the fall are the corollaries to today. The Unites States of America has a Gini coefficient of .45, and 40% of the wealth is controlled by the top 1% of the population.[5] By every metric, the United States is even more divided and unfair than Rome before its fall. The effects are perfectly evident as well as there is increasing inclination from the rich to build fallout bunkers and withdraw from civilization and politics just as the roman elites did centuries before. Worsening matters is the evidence of extreme racism towards migrant workers who like slaves in Rome “take the labor from the hardworking middle class”. Increasingly the middle class shrinks as social unrest and bigotry grows. It is a scary combination that, if we aren’t careful, could spell the end of civilization as we know it, just like it did for the Romans centuries before.

Bonus:

Sources:

[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/even-the-roman-empire-wasnt-as-unequal-as-america-today-2011-12

[2] Ermatinger, James William. The decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Greenwood Press, 2004, Page 58.

[3] Ermatinger, James William. The decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Greenwood Press, 2004, Page 58.

[4] http://www.mintpressnews.com/how-inequality-diversity-and-empire-brought-down-the-roman-republic/188498/

[5] http://www.businessinsider.com/even-the-roman-empire-wasnt-as-unequal-as-america-today-2011-12

Picture Sources:

Diocletian’s Palace, Croatia. This heavily fortified palace was built at the turn of the 4th century for Roman emperor Diocletian. The massive palace was protected by large walls with numerous towers. Some times, it housed over 9000 people. I’ll post more in the comments. from castles

https://popularresistance.org/the-science-of-inequality/

Reading Thomas Piketty: A Critical Essay

Further Reading: 

Income inequality in the Roman Empire

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-30/following-ancient-romes-footsteps-moral-decay-rising-wealth-inequality

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Consider Central Asia, where Russia’s Altai Republic intersects with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. Much of the region remains a tractless wilderness, with roads and settlements existing only in the most sparse and isolated sense of the term. Here, tourism is an undertaking of long distance and remoteness, but the history of the Altai Mountains defies the conventional wisdom of such a place.

Long before the storied Silk Roads wound across the Eurasian landmass, Altaian peoples operated within a dynamic interplay of genetics, language, artistry, and culture, at once receiving from others and wielding influence over them. Theirs is an expansive narrative with links to Africa, Europe, the Middle East, India, China, Korea, and even North America that toys with the modern ethnocentric default of “othering” unfamiliar peoples and trivializes the theory that it is possible to delimit distinct branches of humanity.

Figure 1: Cross-section of a Pazyryk burial.

Prominent over 2300 years ago, the Pazyryk people left behind burial mounds called kurgans that today proffer the bulk of data on the history of the Altai Mountains. Evidence from numerous well-preserved kurgans allows experts to claim with “no doubt that this culture was closely linked…to the leading centers of civilization at the time in China, India, and Achaemenid Iran” (Tresilian). By reusing items from other peoples and adapting foreign motifs into their own designs, the Pazyryk demonstrate an eclectic taste that would not have been possible if they were closed off from the exchange of goods and ideas. Some iconography from Western China clearly exhibits inspiration from the style of the Altaian nomads (Tresilian), while the embellishment of Chinese silks to clothe the renowned Pazyryk noblewoman approaches stylistic elements that remain common among the nomads of the region today. From the western side, Altaians absorbed Achaemenid influences and endured observation by the Greeks. Any depiction of a human is rare in Pazyryk art, and yet a bridle carved with the image of Bes, an Egyptian genie that was popular among the Achaemenids, appears in one of the tombs (Rubinson).

Figure 2: Image of Bes, a token of Achaemenid influence in the Altai Mountians.

When paired with genetic evidence that links modern Altaians to the Iranian-Caucasian lineage of the Pazyryk (“Siberian Princess”) and to ancestral Native Americans (“On Our Mind”) through demographic expansion from the region (Gonzalez-Ruiz et al.), an image of the power of cultural synthesis across history takes shape, an image in which each group of people depends on the accumulated influence of others.

When archaeologists under the auspices of UNESCO propose awareness among local people as if it were an afterthought (Tresilian) and Russian officials cast off pleas for the return of Pazyryk mummies with invocations of science (“Siberian Princess”), they disregard indigenous ways of knowing and transform heritage into an exotic subject of curiosity. The residents of the Altai region may be able to claim a history that transcends the boundaries surrounding them, but the institutions championed by Europe and America continue to put themselves above the rest, deepening divisions and ignoring the profound connections that link every group of people to a shared human story.

Sources:

Gonzalez-Ruiz, Mercedes, et al. “Tracing the Origin of the East-West Population Admixture in the Altai Region (Central Asia).” PLOS One, PLOS, 9 Nov. 2012, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0048904. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.

“On Our Mind in March.” Altai Project, 27 Mar. 2015, www.altaiproject.org/2015/03/on-our-mind-in-march/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.

“On the Path to Celestial Pastures.” Science First Hand, Infolio, 30 Dec. 2014, scfh.ru/en/papers/on-the-path-to-celestial-pastures/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

Rubinson, Karen S. “The Textiles from Pazyryk.” Penn Museum, Expedition Magazine, Mar. 1990, www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-textiles-from-pazyryk/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.

“Siberian Princess Reveals Her 2,500 Year Old Tatoos.” The Siberian Times, 14 Aug. 2012, siberiantimes.com/culture/others/features/siberian-princess-reveals-her-2500-year-old-tattoos/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.

Tresilian, David, editor. “Preservation of the Frozen Tombs of the Altai Mountains.” World Heritage Convention, UNESCO, Mar. 2008, whc.unesco.org/document/100814. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.

Image Sources:

Drawing of Section of Pazyryk Barrow No. 5. State Hermitage Museum, 2007, depts.washington.edu/silkroad/museums/shm/shm06231.jpg. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

Image of Bes Confirmed by Identical in Rubinson Publication. Pinterest, i.pinimg.com/736x/46/39/17/463917c441cd869509086b95efaae3fd–hermitage-museum-plaque.jpg. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

Further Reading:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/12/01/no-the-siberian-ice-maiden-is-not-a-man/#7f401b67605b

http://www.face-music.ch/archelogy/burials_en.html

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The legacy of racial violence through an archaeological perspective, specifically lynching, perhaps is one of the most relevant examples of how to present the idea that the discussion of how to ethically present histories from our past is intensely relevant today.

The ways that artifacts are presented create narratives that either fetishize or humanize the archaeological remains of such atrocities. For example, after the 1901 public murder of George Ward in Terre Haute, Indiana, the crowd immediately fought amongst one another in order to obtain any part of Ward’s body. His extremities were broken off and kept. His toes were auctioned off to the highest bidders (Young 168). The remains of lynching victims became a memory of the ritualistic murders to those who commoditized the black body. In contrast, the families and friends of the lynching victims would scour sites to find any remains, so that they could bury them (Young 183).

The infamous lynching postcards that were and are insensitively displayed in family photo albums bring this hate crime to life (Simon 1:Without Sanctuary). Postcards portraying lynching victims continue to circulate within the market, perpetuating a sort of looting that represents the way that we still view the victims of these violent acts. It evokes visions of the colonial past, creating a modern ‘cabinet of curiosity’ that continues to other and fetishize the secrecy and yet loudness of racial violence. It is obvious that systemic and violent dehumanization, social or physical, of black and brown bodies is not something that is limited to the past.

Figure 1. Rope used in the lynching of Matthew Williams in December of 1931. It is currently displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

This is not to say that archaeological remnants of lynchings should not be displayed in any circumstances.  Emmett Till’s family donated his casket to the Smithsonian Museum. A piece of the rope used to murder Matthew Williams is at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. James Allen and John Littlefield’s collection of lynching postcards and photographs literally take these artifacts from people’s collections and turn them into a condemnation and remembrance of the victims. All of these artifacts are intended to become materials for teaching and remembrance by those descended from victims and by allies, and this is what we must hope happens to as many cultural remains as possible.

But we must remember that certain voices must be put at the forefront. James Cameron, a victim of a botched lynching, founded a museum based on this black genocide. He is a living testimony to the remains that have become ecofacts to museums and collectibles to many others. America’s Black Holocaust Museum had wax figures of lynching victims on display, as well as rope used to lynch a man. It evoked such negative reactions that the exhibit was taken down. The Museum shut down in 2008, and although it reopened this year, its temporary failure serves to show which narratives continue to dominate and gain support. Archeology must be collaborative, because only those who have lived the repercussions of such horrors can adequately help to create the ethical narratives that such remnants deserve.

Figure 2. Emmett Till’s casket, donated to the Smithsonian in 2009.

Sources:

Evidence of Things Unsaid

Simon, Roger I. “The Public Rendition of Images Médusées: Exhibiting Souvenir Photographs Taken at Lynchings in America.” Presence: Philosophy, History, and Cultural Theory for the Twenty-First Century, edited by Ranjan Ghosh and Ethan Kleinberg, Cornell University Press, Ithaca; London, 2013, pp. 79–102. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt32b58z.8

Young, Harvey. “Housing the Memory of Racial Violence: The Black Body as Souvenir, Museum, and Living Remain.” Embodying Black Experience: Stillness, Critical Memory, and the Black Body, University of Michigan Press, ANN ARBOR, 2010, pp. 167–208. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.235634.7.

Image Sources:

Figure 1.

Emmett Till’s Casket Donated to Smithsonian

Figure 2.

Rope Used to Lynch Michael Brown

Further Reading:

Lynching Site Still Stands in Mississippi

http://time.com/4314310/hanging-bridge-excerpt-mississippi-civil-rights/

Postcards of Lynchings by James Allen and John Littlefield

http://withoutsanctuary.org/main.html

Example of Exploitation of Cultural Property: Postcards of Racially Motivated Violence for Sale Online

https://www.biblio.com/book/negro-homes-burned-rioters-sprinfield-race/d/609677283?aid=frg&utm_source=google&utm_medium=product&utm_campaign=feed-details&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIisj-vZCV1wIVVQaGCh2nPAkQEAkYAyABEgJLI_D_BwE

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Early-1900s-RPPC-Real-Picture-Post-Card-Unused-Execution-Hanging-Lynching/362119740700?hash=item545004bd1c:g:NokAAOSwjDZYaewA

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The Western world considered Egypt to be one of the greatest civilization in history.  Most of its fame arose from the sense of wonderment surrounding its massive pyramids, and from its legendary people and histories.  Cleopatra was a main figure that American children learn about when they first begin to discuss Egypt.  The fall of her empire was often attributed to the Roman victory over Egypt in the Battle of Actium in 30 B.C..  Whereas this loss was previously comprehended by conditioned notions of Egyptian weakness through infighting, decadence, and incest, recent archaeological findings hinted that the environment and climate may have had a larger impact on the outcome of the battle.  Evidence from ice core data, Islamic records of the water levels in the Nile River, and “ancient Egyptian histories” written on papyrus suggested that a volcanic eruption in 44 B.C. had a massive impact on the stability of Egypt under Cleopatra’s reign.

Antony and Cleopatra — Battle of Actium, 30 B.C.

The result of the eruption was widespread vulnerability.  The intrusive eruption disrupted the flooding of the Nile River, thus impacting agriculture, trade, and social organization.  Famine ensued due to lack of fertility in local soils to produce essential crops and sustenance for consumption and trading.  Additionally, immune systems severely declined with the lack of proper nutrition or energy, which contributed to the widespread disease and famine which swept the nation.  Lastly, social unrest surrounding the irregular patterns of the river caused strained trade and social relations between groups of people and caused either conflict or the need for migration.  All of these consequences of the volcanic eruption in 44 B.C. contributed to the immense vulnerability of Egypt at the time, making Cleopatra’s reign less authoritative, and making it easier for the Roman empire to claim victory over Egypt in the Battle of Actium in 30 B.C..

A map of the Battle of Actium with Cleopatra and Antony’s respective positions labelled.

I found this finding interesting because it proved the necessity of critical thinking and revisitation of academia’s previously conceived notions and ideas surrounding political and social phenomena.  While infighting, decadence, and incest may have contributed to the instability that Egypt felt at the time, it was important to search for more context in order to reveal clues about the rise and fall of “past” civilizations and empires.  Looking at history with such a critical lens could elucidate perceptions of the future cycle of empires in the world and help to understand the meanings behind and implications of international interactions today.

Sources and Additional Readings:

https://www.archaeology.org/news/6027-171017-egypt-volcano-nile

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/17/asp-or-ash-climate-historians-link-cleopatra-demise-volcanic-eruption-nile

http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00957-y

http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub366/item2032.html

https://thisblogisratedpgforpropheticguidance.wordpress.com/tag/battle-of-actium/

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