One of the most famous lines from the Indiana Jones series is the grizzled archaeologist facing down a baddie looting artifacts and growling, “It belongs in a museum!” Real archaeologists know that, just as in fighting Nazis, the world is a bit more complicated than Indy would have us believe. Sure, most of us can agree that Hitler shouldn’t have the Ark of the Covenant. But in real life, who decides which museums should have which artifacts? Spoiler alert: there’s no archaeology police, and legal battles over artifact ownership can quickly become complex, confusing, and contested. Imagine if, in Indy’s world, the Egyptian government 500 years from now demands that US government return the Ark of the Covenant. Who should own it? The US Government that has housed it for centuries? The German government whose agents excavated it in the first place? The Egyptian government whose sovereign territory was violated, even though the Nazis seemed to have permission to dig at the time? Jewish people who can claim descent from the Ark’s original owners? Marion’s descendants, not Indy’s, because she had to put up with enough of Indy’s nonsense in the first place (NB: IU-Indianapolis Classical Studies maintains a strict sequel-free Indiana Jones timeline)?

Want to learn more? Join the Archaeological Institute of America Central Indiana Society on Sunday, February 2, 7:30 PM for a lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Marlowe (Colgate University), entitled “Normalizing Loot: A Case Study of a Plundered Imperial Shrine.” The lecture is free and open to the public, and will be held at IU-Indianapolis Campus Center Theater (INCE 002). We hope you can join us!