Iceman:
- Body allowed to decompose/ go mouldy
- Ownership: What country was the body found in? There was a border disputr between Italy and Austria, but Italy technically owned the body because it was found just 200 m into the italian border. The problem there was that the body was being held in Austria. Look it up for more detail.
Schliemman:
-There are pictures of his wife wearing the jewellery. Not cool.
Also look up the Elgin Marbles. It's a really in depth one.
Here's some of my notes from last year.
Iceman:
Ownership
There was a dispute over which side of the border the body belonged to. At first they thought it was Austria’s, so the body was taken to Austria for analysis.
It was later found that they had missed a border marker: it was really property of Italy, but the body was being kept in Austria.
Moral Issues
Disturbing the site
Unproffessional (disrespectful) recovery
Various funguses allowed to grow on the body before it got suitable storage: Preservation.
Should it be on display???
The Elgin Marbles
Background
They were the marble sculptures that were in the Parthenon.
Lord Elgin, the governor of Turkey at the time, used his influence to have them removed ‘for protection’. The removal process involved taking many sculptures that formed major supporting parts which were holding up the roof, so the Parthenon was destroyed in the process.
Ownership Issues
They belong to Greece, and were technically stolen, as Elgin never legally had permission to take them.
They are in the British museum, but they belong too Greece.
In the British museum they are well preserved and they would not be in the current polluted state of Greece’s atmosphere.
Greece wants them back to reconstruct the Parthenon, but will have to deal with the preservation issues before they get them back.
Other Issues
Societies did NOT exist in isolation: If left in the Museum they will be there to compare to other artefacts of the same period, so people can see how ancient societies were influenced by each other.
WHO OWNS THE PAST???
o This is shifting from private ownership to public access.