A Point of View

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A Point of View: The Stuff of Museums

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The Stuff of Museums

BBC Radio 4 - A Point of View, The Stuff of Museums

Mary Beard on the function of museums and the thorny issue of what should be in them.

Mary Beard contends that there can be no one-size-fits-all solution to questions of where museum pieces rightfully belong.

Mary Beard argues that 21st Century disputes about what museums should own - or give back - are far from being a modern phenomenon. 

'Almost as far back as you can go, there have been contests about what museums should display, and where objects of heritage properly belonged,' writes Mary. 'These debates are written into museum history.' 

From the Great Bed of Ware to the Lewis Chessmen, Mary reflects on how we determine who owns objects from the distant past.  

Sometimes, she says, as in the case of the Broighter Hoard, it comes down to the kind of craziness of deciding whether 'some anonymous Iron Age bloke had planned to come back for his stuff, or not!' 

Producer: Adele Armstrong 
Sound: Peter Bosher 
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman 
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

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