For any of you interested in such things, I've come across an interesting recent article criticizing how the Dead Sea Scrolls are often presented. Apparently the Qumran-Essene theory (the theory that the biblical scrolls were written and deposited by a religious sect called the Essenes) has been accepted and presented without question at certain Scroll exhibitions and press releases. Last August an alternative theory of the Qumran settlement made the news after being published in Biblical Archaeology Review.

The article, by Norman Golb of the University of Chicago, is scholarly and long, but here's the abstract:

This article examines a series of efforts initiated over the past decade by traditional Dead Sea Scrolls scholars in defense of the original Qumran-Essene theory of Scroll origins. These efforts notably include: (1) declarations to the press concerning DNA analyses, the results of which were thereafter never released; (2) unverifiable claims concerning an ostracon found at Qumran, repeated in several publications and never retracted; (3) a series of Scroll exhibits that appear designed to lead the public towards acceptance of the Qumran-Essene theory as factually correct; and (4) a recently organized press campaign also appearing to encourage the public, on the basis of parasitological organisms found near Khirbet Qumran, to acquiesce in the truth of that theory. The author argues that the totality of these efforts raises serious concerns regarding the treatment of archaeological and manuscript discoveries and their public presentation.

 The link(pdf).

I haven't read it, so if anyone takes the time to do so please drop a comment and tell me what you think.