The internet is an important method of connecting people all over the world. Not only can people communicate over the internet, people can use it as a way to buy, sell, and trade pieces of their culture. Ebay and other trading and bidding sites make it easy to find artifacts from around the world. However, this also makes it easier for people to sell artifacts illegally, or sell fake ones. The list of Egyptian Antiquities on Ebay is pages and pages long, with many artifacts that could be fake, illegally taken from their place of origin, or stolen. Ebay has tried to maintain a legal standard for the artifacts it sells, but things can slip under the radar, and the amount of fakes makes it more difficult to determine if something was looted or
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If there is no context of how the object is found or where, then important information we can learn from that knowledge is also lost. Some of the smallest details can produce the best information. The ticks found on the dog mummy reveal how, when, and where she died, as well as the treatment of the corpse after death. Had excavators not been careful with the artifact, and recorded all data, no matter how small, there would not be the same information about the dog’s burial. Even from holes in the skin and the lack of certain adult parasites, it is discovered that the method of burial did not stop mature parasites from leaving the corpse once buried (Huchet 2013). Using small details to explore the life of the artifact is a crucial part of archaeology. In the description of the scarab, it is mentioned that there are remnants of linen wrappings. This could be an indicator that the artifact was buried with a mummy, even wrapped onto one. Details such as the placing and position of the artifact could reveal so much more about the burial process of this time, but this information is lost, along with the origins of the scarab. The research scientist who analyzed the crocodile cannot find out much about the cultural context because there is no information on where it was found, or even what condition it was found in. The crushed mouth of the crocodile could be an insight to details of the artifacts life, or it could have happened after it was excavated. Without a trail of information on where it has been and when it was found, the details can only be
If there is no context of how the object is found or where, then important information we can learn from that knowledge is also lost. Some of the smallest details can produce the best information. The ticks found on the dog mummy reveal how, when, and where she died, as well as the treatment of the corpse after death. Had excavators not been careful with the artifact, and recorded all data, no matter how small, there would not be the same information about the dog’s burial. Even from holes in the skin and the lack of certain adult parasites, it is discovered that the method of burial did not stop mature parasites from leaving the corpse once buried (Huchet 2013). Using small details to explore the life of the artifact is a crucial part of archaeology. In the description of the scarab, it is mentioned that there are remnants of linen wrappings. This could be an indicator that the artifact was buried with a mummy, even wrapped onto one. Details such as the placing and position of the artifact could reveal so much more about the burial process of this time, but this information is lost, along with the origins of the scarab. The research scientist who analyzed the crocodile cannot find out much about the cultural context because there is no information on where it was found, or even what condition it was found in. The crushed mouth of the crocodile could be an insight to details of the artifacts life, or it could have happened after it was excavated. Without a trail of information on where it has been and when it was found, the details can only be