Nikkie,
The other answers have been excellent, but I'll add another one or
two.... (Who knows what will finally be 'heard' by the person?)
Even if there were a reason that they are historically significant
(artist was significant, local medical school history, etc., are
stretching it but maybe), it still would be most inappropriate to put
them on exhibit. So, if they have no research value, and no exhibit
value, even if they had some marginal significance to your mission, what
the heck would they be good for except taking up valuable storage space?
You could also tell him that if they did really come from the medical
community, there is some likelihood that they originated in India, which
was the origin of a lot of human skeletal materials sold for medical and
study purposes. (They were usually from indigent deceased or similar sad
circumstances, and I think that extremely poor people even sold their
own bodies before death to obtain money for their families.) That might
make it even more clear that the proposed gift is outside the realm of
your local history museum.
This sounds like a phenomenon that is all too common in history
museums....if someone has something that is difficult to get rid of,
they decide that the local museum is the ideal place to 'put' it. Be
kind and polite but FIRM. And get skilled at suggesting a "better home"
for offers such as this...." a place where they will be much more
useful"....it can really take the heat off.
In this case you could suggest that he offer the skulls to a nearby
college that teaches Physical Anthropology, where they could be used as
teaching specimens in lab classes. They would also have the expertise to
determine probable origins and possible NAGPRA status. I believe it's
relatively easy to distinguish between bones that have been in the
ground and those that have not.
Lucy Sperlin
Chico, CA
Curator Fort Morgan Museum wrote:
>
> Oh Great and Knowledgeable Ones-
>
> I had an offer this morning from an artist to give me two human skulls when
> he is no longer able to create art and use them in his still lifes-
>
> I told him that I could not afford to accept them since as we are an AAM
> accredited and NAGPRA compliant local history museum and I would need to get
> an anthropological study of them done to determine age and ethniticity (not
> bad for off the cuff/on the spot thinking)- he said that would not be needed
> since both were given to him by members of the medical profession and that
> they came from medical schools- I don't like his logic, especially since I
> know one of the men was a local arrowhead hunter, and who knows what else he
> dug up-
>
> Does anyone have any other suggestions or logical arguments I could use to
> not accept these items- and did I mention he's bosom buds with two different
> board members?
>
> Nikkie "One head is enough, thank you" Cooper
>
> Nikkie Cooper, Curator
> Fort Morgan Museum
>
> P.O. Box 184
> Fort Morgan, CO 80701
> 970-867-6331
> [log in to unmask]
>
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