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Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue

Sapiens

In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy. As a multicultural Spaniard with extensive experience in the museum sector, I see the initiative as part of a long-overdue and much-needed reckoning with Spain’s colonial past.

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A Call for Respect: Rethinking How Museums Care for Animal Remains

Anthropology.net

.” Ward, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, has spent years working in museums, but this experience reinforced what he and many Indigenous scholars have long known—many institutions need to rethink how they handle animal remains. “We need to reframe the way we think about museums.

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Bits and Bytes Don’t Leave Bones

Anthropology News

Cultural artifacts, traditions, and knowledge do not simply move; they shift, adapt, and sometimes disappear in the process. Digital artifacts follow the same patterns. In theory, migration ensures that digital artifacts remain accessible as technology evolves. But migration is not a neutral act.

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Application of Archaeological Anthropology and Cultural Resources Management

Anthropology for Beginners

archaeologists study past humans and societies primarily through their material remains – the buildings, tools, and other artifacts that constitute what is known as the material culture left over from former societies. Application of Archaeology Archaeology is the study of human past through material remains.

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Learning From Snapshots of Lost Fossils

Sapiens

In museum archives, researchers found photos of remains from Paleolithic children who had belonged to a group of early Homo sapiens in Eurasia. In a museum basement, we huddled over a black-and-white photograph showing pieces of a lower jawbone and its loose teeth. Not all fossil discoveries happen in the field.

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Cultural Relativism

Anthropology for Beginners

The idea is predicated on the degree to which human behavior is held to be culturally determined, a basic tenet of American cultural anthropology. Boas criticized the use of EVOLUTIONARY STAGES as the basis for organizing museum displays, arguing that exhibits should display artifacts in the context of specific cultures.

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Seeking Ever-Elusive Treasures: Reflections on Collective Memory and Spectrality of the Past

Anthropology News

Treasure hunting is long associated with endeavors to unearth concealed artifacts, illustrated best by buried troves of gold left behind by past communities. Accidents happen in dangerous sites, the promised artifact eludes hunters, or suspicion and disagreements turn violent. May engagements with the past be a part of the picture?