Archeologist-Collector Robbed

Longtime Durango resident and former archeologist Branson Reynolds had secretly built up a collection of Native American artifacts and had stashed them away in his storage unit  at Animas Mini Storage on U.S. Highway 160 in west Durango after he sold his home about four years ago. He worked as an archaeologist in the 1980s, and was collecting Native American artifacts from flea markets and galleries. The collection has been stolen from the unit and he is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Reynolds said he is not sure exactly when 20 to 30 Native American artifacts were stolen, but he suspects it was in the last month. They are worth $4,000 to $5,000, based on what he paid for the items more than 30 years ago (Jonathan Romeo, "Native American artifacts worth thousands stolen from Durango storage " Herald   Tuesday, June 13, 2017 ).

Most of the artifacts he collected were an assortment of pottery, bowls, and ladles, mostly from ancestral Puebloans, as well as some rare necklaces and beadwork, when he was working as an archaeologist in the 1980s. “Back then, you could buy those items at a flea market,” Reynolds said. “They all came from legal places, but at some point I figured it wasn’t right that they should be bought, so I just stopped.” [...] Larry Young, manager at Animas Mini Storage who alerted Reynolds, said there hasn’t been a theft at the storage facility for about seven or eight years. While there is a secured gate, there is no surveillance footage that would help in identifying the thieves, he said. “Nothing else (at the storage facility) was taken,” Young said. “It’s kind of like someone knew he had it in there.”

This is upsetting for two reasons. the first is those who insist that collectors reveal what they own and where it comes from are clearly unable to appreciate the security risk involved in revealing such information. What comes out very clearly in this story is the need for increased security and secrecy, not splashing information out in the public domain, it is a matter of protecting your property.

The second is that the article reveals that among the holier-then-thou brigade of archaeologists are some who collect artifacts. He said he 'stopped' at some point - no doubt through feat that the anti-collecting mob would find out and start putting him under pressure for taking an interest in these pieces of teh past.