The Smithsonian is cited here for its own institutional record, not for an outside scholar's argument about it. As the United States' federal museum and research complex, it publishes catalog entries, collection histories and curatorial notes drawn from its own accession files. That is a strong basis for facts about what an object is, when it entered the collection and how the institution itself describes it, since nobody holds a better paper trail on a Smithsonian object than the Smithsonian. It is a weaker basis for interpretive claims about an object's meaning within a living tradition, where the institution is one describer among several and its framing reflects museum cataloging conventions rather than a practitioner's own account. Read it as authoritative on provenance and custody, and as one institutional voice, not the final word, on cultural meaning.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
The Smithsonian is cited here for its own institutional catalog record, treated at the top tier as the federal museum and research complex's own authoritative account of what an object is and its accession history, notwithstanding that it is a weaker basis for interpretive claims about an object's meaning within a living tradition, where it is one institutional voice among several. NotesThe Smithsonian's own account of its founding, governance and museum system. A standing institutional record, not a scholarly publication; use for provenance and holding-institution facts, not for an object's own history or meaning. si.edu does not serve automated readers directly, so this record is verified via search-indexed excerpts of si.edu/about, si.edu/about/history, si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/brief-history-smithsonian-institution and si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/facts-about-smithsonian-institution-short, cross-checked against each other, plus si.edu/object/skull-carved-rock-crystal:nmnhanthropology_8552155, the National Museum of Natural History's own catalogue record for the crystal skull specifically (also not directly reachable; corroborated via the same search indexing and via independent secondary accounts of the object, including the already-live Archaeology magazine source already cited elsewhere in the atlas).
Custodian
Custodian SourceYes
Custodian BodySmithsonian Institution
Custodian BasisThe Institution's own account of its 1846 founding under James Smithson's bequest, its Board of Regents governance, its free admission policy at nearly all Washington museums, and the National Museum of Natural History's own catalogue record for the crystal skull it holds, donated anonymously in 1992 and found by scientific analysis to be a modern object.
Citation
AuthorSmithsonian Institution
URLhttps://www.si.edu/about
Source TypeMuseum
Claims Backed By This Source (17 claims)
This source backs 17 claims across the atlas. As facts: 15 well-attested. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 9 claims: 9 well-attested.
- Custodians & Museums, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
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