A Few Days Ago,

we went to the cinema,

to watch Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, so it was with some interest I read a piece by Petar Parvanov, titled 'What Indiana Jones Gets Right About Archaeology', published in Sapiens, an anthropology magazine, he uses the Indiana Jones films as examples of the question of ownership, from the article:

In 1984’s the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones finds himself searching for a sacred stone stolen from the shrine of an Indian village. The trio of Dr. Jones; his romantic interest, Wilhelmina “Willie” Scott; and his self-appointed assistant, Short Round, must face the evil Thuggee cult to retrieve the valuable item.

Eventually, Indiana returns the Sivalinga stone to the village residents. Their religious leader states, “Now you see the merit of the rock you bring back.”

The protagonist agrees: “Yes. I understand its power now.”

A minute later Willie asks why he did not keep it, to which Indiana replies: “What for? They’d just put it in a museum, and it’d be another rock collecting dust.”

it is an interesting article, given that the ongoing repatriation requests made by various nations and Indigenous groups for the return of their treasures, is increasing year by year.