Hey Rosetta Stone!

I think people underestimate the amount of controversy that can happen within the walls of a museum. Of course, with recent strikes at museums in Ottawa and Paris, the public is slowly become aware that museum communities are not cold, comatose, and static institutions but are willing to fight for themselves and the collections of which they are entrusted.

This is becoming especially apparent when looking at repatriation. I developed an interest in this subject after writing a paper about it for my Debates in Archaeology class. I mostly looked at the efforts of Natives Americans to reclaim the remains of their ancestors, which can be found in museums across the world.* Countries, states, provinces, and museums all have different policies regarding returning Native remains to their ancestors and it is a very controversial subject that has no easy solution. Much of the controversy surrounds trying to prove that the remains are genetically or culturally linked to the Tribe that is trying to secure their release.

Human remains are only part of the repatriation debate. I don't think many people realize that many artifacts found in the Western World's larger museums were essentially "stolen" from other countries during war, invasion, and smuggling. An excellent example of this is the famous Rosetta Stone. Since passing through several hands, including Napoleon, the Rosetta Stone can now be found at the British Museum, however, according to a recent article Egypt would like to see the famous stone back home. British museum professionals seem reluctant to part with the Rosetta Stone, claiming it will not receive the proper care and protection if it was to be put on display in Egypt.

However, the BBC states that Egyptians museum professionals are willing to negotiate and hopefully reach a compromise with their British counterparts. This is a fairly high profile case and will be closely watched by those governments who are also thinking about making a case for the repatriation of their country's national treasures. The Rosetta Stone could unwillingly set the standard for international repatriation.


And now... I present the inspiration for the title of this post, Hey Rosetta! is an awesome Canadian band... check them out!




*Colonialism plays an important role in the repatriation debate. Many of the artifacts under debate, especially the remains of Native Americans, found in museums in Britain, Canada, and the United States were taken during times of conflict, when a stronger power was trying to dominate the original inhabitants. An example of this in Canada would be when Natives were pushed onto reserves. Many of their burial sites were poorly excavated and the remains of their ancestors were shipped to museums across the world. The fact that most of these museums still have these remains serves as a reminder to the days of colonialism.