%0 Journal Article
%T Paleontological museums and geoethics
%A Riccardo Manni
%J Annals of Geophysics
%D 2012
%I Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
%R 10.4401/ag-5562
%X Paleontological museums should adopt a code of ethics in order to carry out restorations and to set-up exhibits without any falsification. Indeed, alterations can often be voluntary because an exhibit needs to be ¡®beautiful¡¯, ¡®realistic¡¯ or ¡®charming¡¯ for the public. Therefore, the reconstructed parts are painted and then ¡®soiled¡¯ artfully to look more realistic. An incomplete skeleton might be completed by reconstructing the missing bones, or by adding casts of other bones. Sometimes skeletons are ¡®created¡¯, by assembling together bones from several specimens of the same species. Therefore, the museum staff should also inform visitors if a specimen has undergone such tampering, because otherwise each visitor is convinced that they have seen a ¡®true¡¯ fossil. So all museum staff should be trained not only in the techniques of museums, but also in the ethics of restoration and installation.
%K Paleontological museum
%K Restoration
%K Mounting skeletons
%K Ethics
%U http://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/5562