134-10 Commercial Paleontology and the Politics of Geoheritage

Session: Crossing Boundaries: Histories of Geoheritage

Presenting Author:

Author:

Abstract:

Fossils, evidence of past organisms and environments, are an integral part of geoheritage. Yet the cultural dimension of fossils elides one of the most significant ways they are engaged with: commercial paleontology. Fossils are increasingly legislated as cultural heritage, and have been recognized as such by UNESCO since 1970; however, the existing model of paleontological heritage often minimizes the history and place of the fossil trade. Commercial paleontology is not only economic but profoundly cultural, shaping how fossils are valued, circulated, and understood by both paleontologists and the public. The history of the fossil trade, I contend, ought to inform our conceptions of geoheritage. 

This paper examines the growth of the commercial paleontological industry in the second half of the twentieth century to historicize the divergence of ‘academic’ and ‘commercial’ paleontology, and in turn the emergence of a model of geoheritage that excludes the fossil trade. Rather than conceptualizing commercial collecting as a threat to geoheritage, I argue that it should be recognized as part of a pluralistic, participatory model of paleontological engagement.  I show that legislation restricting the sale of fossils as cultural heritage often serves elite scientific and institutional interests at the expense of the laborers who enable that discovery and collection. Moreover, laws ostensibly purported to preserve cultural heritage are often so unevenly enforced as to hinder scientific and cultural access to fossil resources as well as economic.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-4801

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