>>>>And that it is collecting that seems to have created the field of archaeology in the first place. <<<< It's not collecting, but amateur collecting, that's the problem. Yes, museums started long ago from the collector's spirit. However, we now do so much more than many amateurs. The pot has intrinsic value, but its location with respect to everything else in the site has so much value that is so often lost during amateur collecting. Archaeologists spend huge amounts of time documenting this before digging deeper to see what else is there. Its condition is also information that is generally lost during cleaning and during whatever environments its exposed to between discovery and its current place. How was it handled initially? To what has it been exposed in the years since? Is that dirt from the original site or from the factory down the street from the last owner's house? Was it that color or has it faded while on display in someone's living room--in sunlight or in a dark corner? Were those cracks there all along or was that when someone's dog knocked it off the table? >>>Museums place their collections on display for the world to see, to learn, and to enjoy. Archaeologists, I've heard, hoard their findings in university cellars pending publication that rarely occurs.<<< Museums "hoard" their stuff, too. Again, the scientific value often drops if the specimen is put on display--fading, cracking, alterations from temperature and humidity regimes, and so on and on. One function of a museum is display, but another is to store material for research. People go to museums and look at the displays to learn about the world, but the actual research behind the labels is usually done on the stuff that's *not* on display. We learn about the world from the research collections and then teach about the world through the percent that's put on exhibit. As to "publication that rarely occurs", I find that very hard to believe, especially in the university world. Does the phrase "publish or perish" no longer pertain? just my 2 cents, Robin Robin K Panza [log in to unmask] Collection Manager, Section of Birds ph: 412-622-3255 Carnegie Museum of Natural History fax: 412-622-8837 4400 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh PA 15213-4008 USA ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).