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Ancient cancel cultures: The defacement of statues in America replicates a tradition going back millennia

  • Written by Sarah Kurnick, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder
Ancient cancel cultures: The defacement of statues in America replicates a tradition going back millenniaIntentionally mutilated head of Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut.Elizabeth Ellis, CC BY-SA

Amid pleas for racial justice, protesters across the United States have mutilated hundreds of monuments. They have decapitated statues of Christopher Columbus, spray-painted graffiti on memorials to Robert E. Lee and mutilated tributes to Jefferson Davis.

As...

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