in Archeology, why do some discoveries get hidden for years before being made public?

Question

in Archeology, why do some discoveries get hidden for years before being made public?
Examples of this:

The Riace Bronzes were discovered in 1972 but wasnt released to the public until 1981, close to a decade later.

Another example, King Tut Tomb, which after its discovery, the Tutankhamun’s ‘Guardian’ Statue was pretty much hidden from public for a while before going public.

But why do this? I dont get that.
Makes me wonder what other stuff been discovered out there that simply never been published to the public yet

In: Other

Answer 1

When a discovery is made it is usually in a location where there may be other archaeological artifacts to excavate and document. If they start announcing and publishing the very impressive finds they extract from the site then it can generate a lot of interest in that location.

So the archeologists who are carefully laying out a grid of strings and stakes, painstakingly documenting where every chip of bone and shard of pottery is found as they dig through the soil, sometimes just brushing dirt delicately from the surface of artifacts buried for thousands of years… get descended on by reporters, yokels, and looters. Some hackette stomps straight through the dig site, crushing artifacts as they go, just to set off some flash powder and take a photograph for their local rag. Clyde and Hobie heard there was some important old stuff found out there and are going to show up and stand around sniffing their own farts and drinking moonshine because they don’t have anything better going on. Also they brought their five hound dogs who will run freely through the dig site. Finally during the night looters are going to sneak in and rip anything out of the ground they can find, destroying most of it, just so they can make a quick buck.

Overall then the best course of action if you are an archaeologist who found some amazing dig site with astonishing artifacts, is *don’t tell anyone*! The public can wait until the dig is finished and you can hopefully avoid dealing with the scum of the earth if it remains secret.