{"id":6799,"date":"2025-04-24T04:43:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T04:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/?page_id=6799"},"modified":"2025-04-24T10:17:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T10:17:59","slug":"t02-s01-papers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/t02-s01-papers\/","title":{"rendered":"T02\/S01 Building Provenance Toolkits: Reflecting on Methodologies, Infrastructure, and Training"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Format: Panel discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convenor: <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Jocelyn S. Bardot, Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, jocelyn.bardot@anu.edu.au<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provenance research plays a central role in archaeology, museology, and cultural heritage management, encompassing activities ranging from identifying cultural belongings to supporting repatriation claims and ensuring proper stewardship of collections. Over the past decade there has been significant investment in improving provenance information for objects across diverse collection types and institutions. Governments, research agencies, and universities have committed millions to the development of digital infrastructures and provenance databases designed to gather, curate, and make accessible item-level provenance information previously dispersed across multiple institutions and sources. This panel invites provenance practitioners to reflect on the advancements made in provenance methodologies, infrastructure, and training over the past decade. Participants will share their \u2018provenance toolkits\u2019 to explore innovative tools and techniques. The session will also address challenges and evolving practices in the field, such as dealing with incomplete or conflicting records, the ethics of provenance research, and the role of provenance for restitution. We encourage contributors to present case studies, examine new trends in training provenance researchers, and discuss the broader implications for the future of archaeological and museum practices. This panel aims to foster critical discussions on the state of provenance research, its achievements, and the potential for future innovation in this essential area of the discipline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This session will feature short, formal-presentations of about 10-minutes each, followed by 30 minutes for discussion and Q&A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Papers:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What is Provenance?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jocelyn Bardot, Gareth Knapman, Hilary Howes and Cressida Fforde, The Australian National University, Australia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provenance and provenance research trace the origins of objects and Ancestors. Originating in the art market, the term \u2018provenance\u2019 has historically emphasised ownership and authenticity, in a world of fakes. Yet as Kopytoff (1988) observed, objects\u2014like people\u2014have biographies and the techniques for writing their biographies are very similar. Over the past three decades museum practice has extended provenance beyond the art historical, particularly through its role in repatriation and restitution processes, which has emphasised the biographies of Ancestors and objects. Since its expansion, provenance research is more preoccupied with tracing journeys and understanding contexts of removal. Through communities seeking the return of objects and Ancestors, provenance has become critical in uncovering the circumstances under which things and Ancestors were taken. These stories of removal have been mobilised as a strategic tool in repatriation claims, highlighting theft and undignified removal to support claims for return. Provenance also encapsulates the identity of both Ancestors and creators, serving as a means to assert and restore dignity through contemporary connections. This paper explores provenance beyond the notion of \u2018origins\u2019 to articulate the multifaceted and expanded role of provenance and the provenance practitioner, and to consider broader implications for cultural restitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Life of a Provenance Researcher: Reflections and Learnings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber Aranui, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu, Ng\u0101ti T\u016bwharetoa)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This paper reflects on the world of provenance research from an Aotearoa New Zealand perspective and delves into the importance of this type of research for the return of ancestors and cultural material. This paper discusses provenance research from both a museological and Indigenous perspective, while looking to the future of this important work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data Curation for Applied Provenance Research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Cressida Fforde, Return Reconcile Renew Centre, Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, The Australian National University, Australia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Museums and archive repositories have invested very significant funding and time into digitising archival material of direct relevance to provenance research. However, a high degree of digital transcription and data cleaning is required to maximise their potential. This paper explores the role of data curation in making provenance datasets and related records more manageable, searchable, and usable for community and provenance practitioners, particularly in repatriation contexts. Drawing on experiences from the Return Reconcile Renew Centre for Repatriation Practice, this paper discusses how data curation strategies have been employed to address the difficulties of organising and integrating provenance records from diverse sources. With datasets often vast in size, attention is given to how curating data to expose linkages within and between datasets enhances their usability and visibility. Through three case studies\u2014focused on Ancestral Remains, cultural objects, and commercial trade provenance data\u2014the paper illustrates how tailored digital curation approaches have been developed to meet the unique needs of each dataset. These case studies reveal how relational curation methods have helped overcome the often-impenetrable nature of large datasets, while also making connections to other relevant data more visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Economic Value of Provenance: A Comparison of Provenance for Repatriation Versus Provenance for Auction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Gareth Knapman, The Australian National University, Australia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The provenance research techniques for the art market and for repatriation are broadly the same. Nevertheless, the objectives are different leading to different interpretations of value. In the art market, provenance has traditionally been understood as the auction and dealer paper trail of an artwork that guarantees its authenticity. Consequently, provenance has been the key to creating value in art. In many respects, the value associated with art depends more on provenance than on the specifics of the artwork itself. Under these commercial circumstances, the provenance record becomes an object\u2019s life history, detailing its history of sale and purchase to establish authenticity. This means that the activities of art historians and dealers, who work to determine an artwork’s provenance, function as mechanisms to commodify that artwork. A completely different approach to provenance emerges in the context of repatriation scholarship. For repatriation purposes, provenance works to demonstrate where an ancestor or artwork came from and how it was illegitimately taken and\/or traded. This narrative of provenance is the opposite of the art market\u2019s approach. Rather than commodifying the ancestor or object, repatriation provenance seeks to restore the human identity of the ancestor or object. By returning this identity, the provenance researcher<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restricted Goods Export Permits: An Underutilised Provenance Resource<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Jocelyn Bardot, The Australian National University, Australia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1913, a proclamation to the Australian Customs Act 1901-1910 introduced a requirement for exporters of Australian Indigenous objects to obtain a Restricted Goods Export Permit. This proclamation aimed to prohibit the exportation of objects considered to be of \u2018ethnological interest\u2019 and \u2018rapidly becoming rare\u2019 and irreplaceable, and whose export was deemed \u2018harmful to the commonwealth\u2019. From 1913 to the 1970s, state museums assessed export requests and advised the Department of Customs on permit issuance. These permits, some of which have been retained by the state museums involved in their administration, offer valuable provenance information for objects in foreign collections, particularly those with poor or incomplete histories. Recent archival research undertaken at state museums in southeastern Australia has identified incomplete sets of issued permits and has enforced their potential for enhancing object-level provenance and usefulness in locating further collections. Locating additional sets of permits, likely held in state customs and Commonwealth archives will be an important resource for supporting inventory and repatriation efforts. This paper discusses export permits as an underutilised source of provenance data, offering key insights into the movement of Indigenous cultural materials and contributing to the ongoing work of repatriation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provenancing Across Multiple Languages: A Case Study About Russia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hilary Howes, Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia<\/em>
Elena Govor, School of Culture, History and Language, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very little is known at present about the history and contents of Russian museum collections. This is partly due to ongoing difficulties accessing Russian archives, but it is also due to language barriers. Research for a current DECRA project titled \u2018Skulls for the Tsar: Indigenous human remains in the collections of Imperial Russia\u2019 has confirmed that a good command of at least three languages \u2013 French, German, and Russian \u2013 is needed for effective provenance research into ancestral remains and cultural objects from Australia, New Zealand and the broader Pacific in Russian collections. Further relevant source material exists in Estonian, Finnish and Latin. Through a series of case studies, we explain the historical and geopolitical factors contributing to this situation and outline what can be achieved through multilingual provenance research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridging a Gap Between Archaeological Records in Southern Aotearoa New Zealand<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lana Arun, Assistant Curator M\u0101ori, Ng\u0101puhi, Te Rarawa, IndoNZ, T\u016bhura Otago Museum, New Zealand<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quality provenance research underpins T\u016bhura Otago Museum\u2019s engagement in repatriating ancestral remains and significant artefacts to Indigenous community care. Hampering this, however, are inconsistent and patchy records dispersed across different organisations. So far digitisation efforts have tended to help research within the different fields of interest rather than across them, at least regarding ancestral remains and treasures from southern M\u0101ori archaeological sites. NZ has digitised its growing library of CRM reports and its archaeological site recording scheme, but these don\u2019t typically cover ancestral remains and artefacts found by other than archaeologists, nor the large proportion in the Museums collected before the 1960s. While the Museum\u2019s own digitised catalogues have only brief provenance descriptions and histories, useful information is found in the field books of past curators and their correspondence with finders. This talk will provide a case study of how this information has been able to help link other archaeological data for a southern M\u0101ori archaeological site and outline a sharing of these digitised records with Ng\u0101i Tahu\u2019s tribal archive as a first step to seeing it integrated with tribal cultural mapping and archive initiatives that will support easier provenance research by others beyond our museum walls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Format: Panel discussion Convenor:  Dr Jocelyn S. Bardot, Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, jocelyn.bardot@anu.edu.au Provenance research plays a central role in archaeology, museology, and cultural heritage management, encompassing activities ranging from identifying cultural belongings to supporting repatriation claims and ensuring proper stewardship of collections. Over the past decade there has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1157,"featured_media":276,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-6799","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"pmpro-has-access","7":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6799"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7160,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6799\/revisions\/7160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}