Fighting about Fossils (again)? - A History of Science View of a Contemporary Controversy in Palaeontology

Abstract

Dinosaur fossils are a simultaneous source of interest to palaeontologists and the public for their scientific, educational, entertainment, and commercial value. They are also a serious source of controversy. Specifically, this article addresses the story of "Sue" - the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever excavated. Sue, discovered by the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in 1990, was confiscated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, then auctioned and purchased for over eight million dollars by the Field Museum of Natural History with finances from McDonald's and Disney. One of the most well-known legal scandals in palaeontology today, Sue has been widely discussed, debated, and written about over the decades. Although Sue is the epitome of a contemporary palaeontological controversy, she is not the final word, and her story serves as a departure point for examining the broader debate over fossil ownership in the United States throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This paper's purpose is two-fold. First, this paper is from the perspective of a historian of science and explores the issues around the legal and illegal trading of fossils in contemporary palaeontology. In the process, I argue the importance of celebrity and the need to see it as an influential force in mobilising as well as destabilising scientific research. I also argue the importance of assumptions of authority in terms of who can access then analyse vertebrate fossil material, especially exceptional fossil finds like Sue with high media and monetary value. Overall, celebrity and assumptions of authority are underlying but unexamined causes of controversy that affect the production of knowledge in palaeontology, not only in the case of Sue, but throughout the history of palaeontology. Second, this paper only provides a snapshot of a complex issue. As such, it marks the start of a comprehensive historical, philosophical, and sociological project on what I view as a debate over fossil ownership that needs to be studied on both a national and international level.