University:
Tyler Junior College
Course:
ANTH 2301 | Anthropology
Academic year:

2024
Views:

105

Pages:

1
Author:

Dave D.

Cultural and Archaeological ANTH 2301 Early Efforts When individuals in Europe and America realised that human settlement and the use of the world's natural resources had resulted in the death or endangerment of innumerable animals, plants, and significant habitats, the conservation movement was born. This realisation occurred in the 19th century. The 1860s saw the start of initiatives to comprehend and preserve the last remnants of the natural environments. Concern for animals and natural spaces served as one of the driving forces for these initiatives. But the worries of recreationists and sports organisations were as important. Preserving important natural ecosystems for parks or wilderness regions was the main goal of early conservation initiatives, which were meant to provide outdoor lovers and sportsmen with grounds for hunting, fishing, and exploration. Numerous places, including the United States' Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks, are still under protection today thanks to these early attempts to conserve them. Gathering specimens for natural history museum exhibits was a part of this early conservation phase. This collecting project was a component of the naturalism movement, which aims to comprehend the world and the rules governing it via firsthand observation of nature. Naturalist collections expanded significantly around the world in the late 19th and early 20th century as several towns and countries looked to build and stock their own natural history museums. Zooarchaeologists and archaeobotanists, who utilise specimen collections of fish, birds, mammals, and plants to identify natural artefacts and animal bones discovered at human burial sites, have found special value in these collections. Animal skeleton collections are available for identification, research, and comparative anatomy in many archaeology labs. Natural history museums now house Native American baskets and other artefacts created by the Indigenous people, in addition to animal species. These days, the lobby of the Auckland Museum in Auckland, New Zealand, greets guests with two enormous totem poles. Totem poles from the Northwest Coast are found in the majority of historic institutions worldwide. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these totem poles were collected from the Northwest Coast of America as a part of the global naturalism and conservation movement. The majority of museums looked to buy these items, but occasionally, when Native owners refused to sell, items were taken. Numerous museums dedicated to natural history also constructed dioramas that portrayed animals and Indigenous peoples in their "natural" environments. Since it suggests that Indigenous peoples are similar to animals and plants, the practice of erecting dioramas of them has drawn a lot of criticism. This practice has been discontinued by several museums, which have even withdrawn the term "natural history" from their titles. Nonetheless, the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, both keep the classification and continue to exhibit dioramas of Indigenous peoples.

Cultural and Archaeological - Early Efforts

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