JGolomb Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Every other day or so, I come across an article focused on the illegal trade of antiquities. Today, I came across this human interest piece about individuals who sell Byzantine, Roman, Greek, Phoenician artifacts from ancient Tyre to tourists in Beirut. Smuggling history Small-scale commerce in relics from ancient submerged Tyre is good business. Abu Mustafa sometimes recovers them while he Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caesar novus Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 (edited) The worst thing is to become fundamentalist (one sided) about it. Just because there are abuses in removing objects out of context doesn't mean it should never happen. It would be silly and anti educational to only have museums of local objects. You have to be a priviliged and rich enough to spew jet exhaust all across the world to see anything Egyptian and Aztec at all? Things shouldn't always stay put in the region they originated and among the people who happen to live there. Sometimes objects aren't valued locally (may seem mundane and only practical), and gain significance when transported across the world to a new, universal context. Even if objects are highly valued locally, having some of them spread out can protect them all sucumbing to a regional disaster like war, earthquake, or acid pollution. Some things are valued locally that shouldn't be, like ancient bones that are legally claimed by indian tribes who may not be their descendants at all, and are a great loss to science when "given back". Legality doesn't equate to ethics, and certainly more and more silly laws are being made and retroactively applied. The somewhat flakey host of Naked Archeologist aired a lot of discussions with Israeli archeologists about how amateurs and looters seem to bring valuable finds to light that the leave the stodgy professionals way behind. This with the full knowledge that the pros work in preserving original context is a million times more valuable... outweighed by the ten million times better productivity of the non pros he suggested. Well, that is admittedly fringe, but not all wrong. Edited September 17, 2009 by caesar novus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGolomb Posted September 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Here's a summary of some recent legal activity around artefact looting: Hat Trick Victory Against Artefact Looting This is the best of the three stories mentioned: Topping Stern for stupidity is James Edward Truhls of Eureka, California, who on Monday pleaded guilty to illegal excavations and the removal of artefacts from a Native American heritage site at Patricks Point State Park, a year on from his arrest. In 2008, several disturbances had been reported at Patricks Point by the Yurok Tribe, who oversee and maintain the land. How did the police go on to catch this cunning criminal? After spotting a video Truhls posted of himself on Youtube, digging at said archaeological hotspot. He Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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