Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers by Craig Childs 2010

In this book, Craig Childs puts the reader into the middle of an ethical dilemma: Is it better for archeologists to preserve the history they find around the world, or should they leave it to the land and the people it belongs to? While no easy answers are found, Childs takes the reader on an adventure through the seedy underbelly of archeology through to its most noble aspirations. We see how museums get caught up in a world of subterfuge, what happens when history is taken from the place it originates, and how people can be the heroes and villains of history at the same time. The author is most familiar with digs in the Southwest United States, but does take touch upon both major archeological events and major cultural institutions.