Talismans and Spirits of the Past Auction

 

        The Catawikkian antiquities spirit-talismaster   
 

On Catawiki today you can not only buy common-or-garden "antiquities" but also ... uhhh, "Talismans and Spirits of the Past Auction" (27 May - 2 June 2022), the auction is curated by their in-house expert in Archaeology and Natural History Peter Reynaers. He says that “When buying [dugup antiquities from trashed archaeological sites], you actually buy a piece of history and emotion”. Others might say that this sale involves somebody in Europe disgracefully making money from selling ripped up pieces of the archaeological record of other countries taken from trashed archaeological sites. Others still might question just how many of these antiquities are what they say they are.

In any case the fact that people are bidding on these ripped up pieces of history as "spirits" and "talismans" shows that collectors of antiquities are not the eager-for-knowledge "citizen archaeologists" some try to make them out to be. Many are just fantasists and sensation-seekers.