-Snip-
>I will not knowingly patronize a museum or museum store
>which sells archaeologically derived artifacts.  Just my 2
>cents.
>
>Chris Dill

As much as I appreciate the sentiment expressed by Chris Dill (and others)
I am uncertain about this matter.

Museums regularly de-accession material from their collections.  Sometimes
this goes to other museums as a gift or in trade.  Sometimes no other
museum wants the material and it goes to a dealer or to an annual museum
fund raiser for sale to the general public.

How is this different from a museum gift store selling pot sherds; for that
matter what is wrong with selling de-accessioned artifacts openly in a
museum gift store?  Or is it simply more politic to sell them all at once
in a well publicized fund raiser?

I do not have much time to spend looking at artifacts on exhibit; my work
takes me into the storage areas where the bulk of most museum's artifacts
are stacked (and I use that term advisedly) and it is not at all clear to
me that collecting exemplars representative of our various cultures under
one non-profit roof to desiccate or moulder away is a good idea.

And that is my 2 cents worth.

Jack

Jack C. Thompson

Thompson Conservation Lab.
7549 N. Fenwick                               I hear and I forget,
Portland, Oregon  97217                       I see and I remember,
                                              I do and I understand.
http://www.teleport.com/~tcl/