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Andean Archaeological Featherwork At The Milwaukee Public Museum: A Case Study In Researching Potential Context For Limited-Provenience Artifacts, Diane Kay Newbury

Theses and Dissertations

The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) has a collection of 134 archaeological Peruvian featherworked items accessioned in the last century with minimal provenience information. The collection is composed primarily of feather fans and ornamental devices with the remainder being sections of tunics and smaller apparel items. Due to the long-standing prevalence of grave looting in Peru and subsequent sale to collectors, many ancient Andean examples in modern museums are bereft of contextual information. Archaeological collections with limited excavation provenience may be viewed as having less research potential. However, the artifacts themselves may carry indications of their original context. As a result, …