Please, please, please act like you have got some sense and do not damage literal museum artifacts in the quest for the perfect photo op. For instance, definitely do not put your kid in an 800-year-old coffin lest you knock it over and break it.
You wouldn’t think anybody would need to say this—especially after somebody busted that century-old Spanish statue while taking a selfie—but you’d be wrong. The Guardian reports:
An 800-year old coffin on display in a museum was damaged when a child was placed inside it to pose for a photograph.
The ancient artefact, which is housed at Prittlewell Priory Museum in Southend, Essex, was accidentally knocked off its stand and broken after the child was lifted over a protective barrier.
The family left the busy museum on 4 August without reporting the damage, leaving staff to discover it for themselves. The incident was caught on CCTV.
“It’s a very important artifact and historically unique to us as we don’t have much archaeology from the priory,” which was founded in the 13th century, said Claire Reed, the conservator who’ll be overseeing repairs. The good news is that it can be repaired for remarkably low price of £100. This time, anyway: “You can put all the risk assessments in place but you really don’t expect people to try to get into the artefacts,” said Reed.
Also, don’t scratch your name on the side of the Colosseum. Just don’t do it!
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