Search results for ""Author Chip Colwell""

The fascinating tale of humankind’s journey from owning nothing to being owned—by our stuff. Why, when and how did our needs become world-destroying addictions? Over 3 million years ago, our ancestors realised they could break apart rocks for sharp edges to cut meat. That discovery changed the fate of our species and our planet. This lively, learned book charts three great leaps in humans’ relationship with objects and belongings, from the discovery of tools to the production of endless commodities. How did we go from primates who needed nothing to people who need everything? With colourful characters, astonishing archaeological discoveries, and reflections on philosophy and culture, Chip Colwell’s quest for answers takes readers to places both spectacular and strange: the Italian cave housing the world’s first painted art; a Hong Kong skyscraper where a priestess channels the gods; a trash mountain whose height rivals Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty. Humans make stuff, but our stuff makes us human—and this love affair may be our downfall. With landfills and oceans drowning in plastic, it’s time for a fourth and final leap for humanity: to reevaluate our relationship with the things that make, and could break, our world.

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Who owns the past and the objects that physically connect us to history? And who has the right to decide this ownership, particularly when the objects are sacred or, in the case of skeletal remains, human? Is it the museums that care for the objects or the communities whose ancestors made them? These questions are at the heart of Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits, an unflinching insider account by a leading curator who has spent years learning how to balance these controversial considerations. Five decades ago, Native American leaders launched a crusade to force museums to return their sacred objects and allow them to rebury their kin. Today, hundreds of tribes use the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act to help them recover their looted heritage from museums across the country. As senior curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Chip Colwell has navigated firsthand the questions of how to weigh the religious freedom of Native Americans against the academic freedom of scientists and whether the emptying of museum shelves elevates human rights or destroys a common heritage. This book offers his personal account of the process of repatriation, following the trail of four objects as they were created, collected, and ultimately returned to their sources: a sculpture that is a living god, the scalp of a massacre victim, a ceremonial blanket, and a skeleton from a tribe considered by some to be extinct. These specific stories reveal a dramatic process that involves not merely obeying the law, but negotiating the blurry lines between identity and morality, spirituality and politics. Things, like people, have biographies. Repatriation, Colwell argues, is a difficult but vitally important way for museums and tribes to acknowledge that fact--and heal the wounds of the past while creating a respectful approach to caring for these rich artifacts of history.

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The second edition of Archaeological Ethics is an invitation to an ongoing and lively discussion on ethics. In addition to topics such as looting, reburial and repatriation, relations with native peoples, and professional conduct, Vitelli and Colwell-Chanthaphonh have responded to current events and news stories. Twenty-one new articles expand this ongoing discussion into the realm of intellectual property, public outreach, archaeotourism, academic freedom, archaeological concerns in times of war, and conflicting values. These compelling articles, from Archaeology Magazine, American Archaeology, and Expedition are written for a general audience and provide a fascinating introduction to the issues faced every day in archaeological practice. The article summaries, discussion and research questions, and suggestions for further reading_particularly helpful given the vast increase in related literature over the last decade_serve as excellent teaching aids and make this volume ideal for classroom use.

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