I have a protagonist named Latonya Coleman, an archaeologist whom I would describe as an inversion of characters like Indiana Jones and Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider games. Instead of breaking into ancient tombs and temples to steal artifacts, she goes into them to return those stolen artifacts. I've already written one short story starring her, but I would like to write another, longer work with her in the future. In this second story, there is a naturally formed "time portal" in a cave somewhere in Guatemala, linking the present day to the Late Cretaceous Period about 67 million years ago. Back in pre-Columbian times, some Maya settlers went through this portal and built a city somewhere on the other side which eventually fell into ruin after a prehistoric disease killed off the people. Fast forwarding to modern times, a poor Guatemalan farmer of Maya descent has obtained an artifact from the ruined city that depicts Cretaceous dinosaurs, and he has sold it to an American creationist ministry that wants to exhibit it at a "museum" they run to prove that humans and dinosaurs coexisted (a common young-earth creationist belief nowadays) instead of being separated by millions of years. After the authorities confiscate the illegally obtained artifact from the creationist museum, it's up to Latonya to return it to the ancient city from whence it came. She has to track down the farmer who originally obtained and sold the artifact so he can lead her to the portal and the city on the other side. On their adventure, they'll have to contend with both the dinosaurs and other wildlife on the Cretaceous side of the portal as well as some Guatemalan cartel goons (one of whom is the farmer's own son) whom the ministry paid to retake the artifact. Anyway, while I'm outlining this story, I need to fill in a couple of possible holes: How would Latonya find out who the farmer who sold the artifact to the ministry is and where he lives? I doubt the ministry would keep a printed receipt of their transaction lying around. I really want the creationist ministry to be major antagonists hellbent on retrieving the artifact for their purposes, but would that make sense if they've already gotten into legal trouble for it (hence why it got confiscated from them)?
1. For the artefact to prove the ministry's point, they'd can't just display it. They'd need to explain where it was from and how it shows that humans and dinosaurs coexisted. So it might well explain where the artefact was from. 2. This artefact proves the ministry's point that humans and dinosaurs coexisted. So I could well see them wanting to get it back to prove that. In fairness, in your fictional universe they are correct about that and fighting against forces fighting to cover up the truth. I'd be careful about making them out to be outright villains in those circumstances.
But they probably wouldn't name the farmer who obtained it or where his address would be in Guatemala, would they? Thing is, the young-earth creationist claim about humans coexisting with dinosaurs is part of their larger argument that the world is only six thousand years old and that God created all life in six days (therefore going against modern science), whereas the truth in this fictional universe is that, by going through the portal, the Maya people went back sixty-seven million years to build a city among the dinosaurs. So they'd be telling a half-truth at most. Plus, what my protagonist wants is to return an indigenous artifact to its location of origin instead of letting people steal it for exploitation in a museum promoting pseudoscience.
1. Maybe your protagonist discovers evidence criminally implicating somebody who slipped under the radar when the government seized the artifact and uses this leverage to discover who the farmer is and where he lives. 2. Hobby Lobby got caught smuggling stolen artifacts multiple times, so I don’t think there are any issues here. And if you haven’t already, you should definitely look into the scandals surrounding them, their owners, and the “Museum of the Bible”. Tons of inspiration there.
The neighbourhood would know who the farmer was that sold the artifact. All she need do is ask around. As far as the creationist ministry is concerned, they would be convinced of their own infallibility. They deal in the word of God! Legal troubles would not hinder their pursuit.
Good point. I figure that, once they found out where the ministry obtained the artifact (probably at some auction house, the way Hobby Lobby acquired some of its artifacts), they might be able to trace through a series of middlemen to whomever originally obtained the artifact. I don't know if I need to go into detail about this whole process though, since I want to focus on the protagonist's journey going through the portal to return the artifact.
What is the purpose of returning the artifacts to the ancient ruins? Most likely they'd just be stolen. Wouldn't it make more sense for her to obtain money for them and give that money to whatever descendents of the original culture exist today? Or just give the artifact to them? Of course at that point it's a priceless stolen artifact and would probably be found by police and taken back to the museum it came from. Probably the best she could manage would be to melt them down and sell the gold or whatever they're made of.
Here's a thought. She gives the artifacts to the descendents of the original culture. The news goes out and there's a huge controversy because those people are seen as the rightful owners of it, so police wouldn't be able to take it without incurring the wrath of the media and activist groups. Now that might work. And the group she gave it to could create a shrine or temple or museum to house it and make money off the proceeds.
She can trace the artifact back to that specific location (dirt/debris left on it, what the artifact is made out of... For example if its a mineral, certain minerals are abundant there, or if its gold, she could trace the components to a river, etc. Shed have to have a team, though). Once she does, all she has to do is ask the villages around the area.
Not if she gets people to protect the portal leading to the ruins after the ordeal. Also, she'd probably want to see the original context the artifact came from in person. Besides, I like the idea of her going into a ruined city in a Cretaceous jungle teeming with dinosaurs too much for her to take the easy way out here.
Ahh... it's been a couple of days since I read your original post. I had forgotten about the time portal. I imagined she was just putting it back in an ancient ruin. Forget what I said.
I've probably seen too many B movies so this isn't original but why not have her find out who the farmer the way it's always done: She gets some vague clues on the identity of the guy who sold it, travels to Guatemala to investigate, and starts asking questions at trading posts and dilapidated bars about some mysterious trader named 'La Serpiente' which results in nothing but awkward silence and later, a night time ambush. She survives these dangers and sorts out the identity of the farmer and that's when the real villains show up, etc.
