Post #86499 by CowboyMike on Thu, Apr 15, 2004 9:20 PM

This debate over reburying grave artifacts reminds me of when the Taliban bombed those ancient stone Buddhas at Bamiyan a few years ago.

I think that important historical artifacts belong to the greater community, not just the descendents of their creators.

And while I think it's quite horrible that the important collections of ancient artifacts tend to be museums in major Western cities, and not in their countries of origin, for example the Egyptian collection of the British Museum, one thing must be taken into account.

The richer the institution, the greater the chance that the artifacts will be well-preserved and taken care of, and available for study and appreciation. The sacking of the Iraqi national museum in Baghdad is a perfect example of this. So it's not all bad that there are Polynesian artifacts in German museums, since a lot more people can go to Berlin than the Solomon Islands.

But burying wooden carvings so no one can see them ever again? That's just lunacy. If my ancestors' graves have historical significance that people can learn from (and possibly improve the world as a result) I'll sign that desecration waiver in a heartbeat.