Caveat Emptor

The nineteenth century was the Wild West of archeological and ethnographic collecting, fueled by the increasing ease of travel to remote places and a growing interest in ancient cultures. It was also a watershed in museum history and collections acquisition. Newly opened national museums in Europe and the Americas had public money to spend, museum collections to amass, and vitrines to fill. The goal was to acquire as many artifacts as possible from the greatest number of places in the least amount of time. Curators busily purchased objects from dealers, private collectors, and agents who lived among native peoples in