What We Talk About When We Talk About Provenance: A Response to Chippindale and Gill

Marlowe, Elizabeth

doi:10.1017/s0940739116000175

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Pope and Ackerman are known to have purchased archaeological artefacts and works of art and sold them to collectors and museums in the West (Montgomery, ; Siver, ), an activity that has subsequently attracted censure for its contribution to promoting the further illicit excavations of archaeological sites in Iran. MMA54.45 is thus unprovenanced, or “ungrounded” in the terminology of Marlowe (: 224). Despite lacking a legitimate and precise archaeological context, its entry in the Metropolitan Museum catalogue lists the piece as being from Iran and of “Iron Age III date, ca.…”

Section: Decorative Motifs and Schemesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

Weeks

David‐Cuny²,

Avanzini

et al. 2019

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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This article presents and discusses a corpus of worked and decorated shell discs from recently excavated archaeological sites in southern Arabia, including Dibba (northern Oman), Saruq al-Hadid (UAE) and Sumhuram/Khor Rori (southern Oman). The artefacts are compared to a wide range of shell discs from controlled excavations in Arabia and the broader Near East in order to better understand their date, manufacture and use. The comparative study highlights the wide distribution of decorated shell discs across the ancient Near East, particularly during the early Iron Age, and the complex economic and cultural connections that underpinned the collection, crafting, exchange and significance of such items.

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Section: Decorative Motifs and Schemesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

Weeks

David‐Cuny²,

Avanzini

et al. 2019

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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“…An important debate about the matter, within the context of exhibitions at several high-profile institutions, was opened up by Christopher Chippindale and David Gill two decades ago, and has been reignited more recently by Elizabeth Marlowe and others. (Chippindale and Gill 2000;Joyce 2012;Marlowe 2016;Lyons 2016; Charney 2019) 10 The loss of a secure archaeological context certainly hinders our understanding of mummy portraits in general, specifically in terms of their origin (i.e., their place of manufacture and/or findspot) as well as their chronology.…”

Section: Of 30mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Girl with the Golden Wreath: Four Perspectives on a Mummy Portrait

Barr

Berge

Daal

et al. 2019

Arts

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A mummy portrait of a young woman with a golden wreath is part of the archaeological collection of the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam. This portrait is covered by four authors, each from their separate perspective, namely provenance research, technical examination, museum presentation, and diversity education. Provenance research is significant not only for tracing the second-life biography of the panel, but also for assessing its bona fide authenticity. Non-invasive examinations can help identify possible underlayers, pigments and modern restorations. Museological aspects concern the contextualization of the portrait, not only as a funerary artefact, but also as an expression of physical appearance. Educational programs can be implemented to illustrate to museum visitors the relevance of ancient artefacts for modern society.

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“…and "provenance." More recently, Marlowe (2016) referred to these two concepts with the terms "grounded" and "ungrounded," to distinguish between artifacts whose collecting history is known and those for which there are doubts. In this paper, in order to facilitate overall comprehension, we will use "provenience" to indicate the place of origin of a given archaeological object and "collecting history" to refer to the list of its successive owners.…”

Section: Of 28mentioning

confidence: 99%

Forensic Archaeometry Applied to Antiquities Trafficking: An Investigation at the Frontiers of Knowledge

Temiño¹,

Yáñez²,

Villar³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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For most of its history, archaeology has taken an indulgent attitude toward looting and antiquities trafficking. The primary response to these dangers has been to publish the main findings made outside of academia. As a result of this approach and the prominent role played by police techniques in investigating such crimes, investigations are primarily based on documentary research. This approach makes it harder to determine such essential factors in this field as an object’s collecting history or discovery date. This paper offers an overview of the state of the research on the fight against antiquities trafficking. It then proposes new ways of studying collecting history, drawing on research projects on the use of archaeometry to shed light on cases of looting or trafficking involving police, court, or government intervention; hence, its qualification as “forensic.” Although the current state of knowledge does not enable the presentation of novel research, we believe that researchers and interested institutions should be made aware of the advisability of using archaeometry more directly in the fight against these scourges.

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What We Talk About When We Talk About Provenance: A Response to Chippindale and Gill

Cited by 15 publications

References 6 publications

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

The Girl with the Golden Wreath: Four Perspectives on a Mummy Portrait

Forensic Archaeometry Applied to Antiquities Trafficking: An Investigation at the Frontiers of Knowledge

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