Accidentally Discover an Ancient Artifact

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

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Imagine You Accidentally Discover an Ancient Artifact. Would You Keep It for Yourself or Contact Local Historians?

Does everything from the past have historical significance? Is it unethical to keep a historical artifact for your own collection or should you turn it into a museum or historical society? Why can’t history belong to the people in a physical sense?

 

[Duskpire]

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Imagine You Accidentally Discover an Ancient Artifact. Would You Keep It for Yourself or Contact Local Historians?

I'd want to get the item appraised and then sell it. I hope it's a million bucks or more!

 

[cowcatcher]

I have semi-ancient "artifacts" from relatives...it would seem possible that things get passed down through even more generations so one of us could already have something of historical interest - would be funny, for instance, if someone had a partial copy of the magna carta that got botched with an ink spill. (I hate those people who find the odd Picasso in their parents attic.) But would I even know what I was looking at? I'd need to go to antiques roadshow to find out!

 

[Daltonio]

I've watched enough horror movies that I know finding an ancient artifact wouldn't end well

I'd take it to somebody to find out more about it for sure, but if it's mine I would decide what to do with it depending. Whether that be keeping it, selling it, donating it etc.

 

[Crys]

I want nothing to do with it. I would contact someone immediately to do whatever they needed to do with it.

 

[Black Angel]

I want nothing to do with it. I would contact someone immediately to do whatever they needed to do with it.

Right. This is exactly how many horror movies got started.

That said, I would try to contact a historian. I wouldn't try to keep it as it was likely stolen from wherever it originally was and ended up there anyway.

So keeping it for myself wouldn't make me any better..

I would take as many pictures and video of it as I could for my own research though..