Throughout this course, you have been learning a few things about the discipline known as archaeology. It is through archaeology that we come to know about ancient civilizations.

The purpose of the work of an archaeologist is to expand our collective knowledge of ancient peoples and their societies. However, these scientists have limits to what they can study. One of these limits is to be certain that they are not doing any harm. We call this aspect of any discipline "ethics."

You read earlier about looters who robbed graves in Egypt, both in ancient and recent times. We would consider these robbers to have poor ethics as they have caused all sorts of damage when they have looted graves. 

Archaeologists have to be really careful not to destroy any artifacts when excavating sites. 

There are other ethical considerations. Archaeologists must consider how their findings are interpreted. For example, they would not want to assume that a certain culture was war-like when it wasn't. 

They also must be careful that their findings are reported in a way that is respectful. This can be an issue when they photograph human remains or put them on display in a museum. 

For this assignment, you will respond to an article from National Geographic on the excavating of the gravesite of the "Lady of Cao" who was a ruler amongst the Moche many centuries ago. You will find a file of the article below. 

After reading the article and examining the photos, you will answer the following question:

What were some of the ethical issues that archaeologists had to consider when studying the gravesite of the Lady of Cao?

You will need to address all of the following points:

• physical damage to artifacts
• fair analysis and interpretation of the findings
• respectful reporting of the findings including the museum display

Write this using paragraph form, and make certain to specifically refer to the assigned article. This will be marked according the rubric below.