You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
The exploitation of archaeological sites for commercial gain is a serious problem worldwide. In peace and during wartime archaeological sites and cultural institutions, both on land and underwater, are attacked and their contents robbed for sale on an international 'antiquities' market. Objects are excavated without record, smuggled across borders and sold for exorbitant prices in the salesrooms of Europe and North America. In some countries this looting has now reached such a scale as to threaten the very survival of their archaeological and cultural heritage. This volume highlights the deleterious effects of the trade on cultural heritage, but in particular it focuses upon questions of legal and local responses: How can people become involved in the preservation of their past and what, in economic terms, are the costs and benefits? Are international conventions or export restrictions effective in diminishing the volume of the trade and the scale of its associated destruction?
The exploitation of archaeological sites for commercial gain is a serious problem worldwide. In peace and during wartime archaeological sites and cultural institutions, both on land and underwater, are attacked and their contents robbed for sale on an international 'antiquities' market. Objects are excavated without record, smuggled across borders and sold for exorbitant prices in the salesrooms of Europe and North America. In some countries this looting has now reached such a scale as to threaten the very survival of their archaeological and cultural heritage. This volume highlights the deleterious effects of the trade on cultural heritage, but in particular it focuses upon questions of legal and local responses: How can people become involved in the preservation of their past and what, in economic terms, are the costs and benefits? Are international conventions or export restrictions effective in diminishing the volume of the trade and the scale of its associated destruction?
This collection is the product of a collaborative venture between criminologists and archaeologists concerned with the international market in illicit antiquities. It examines the state of regulation in the antiquities market, with a particular focus on the UK's position, but also with reference to the international context. Looting happens routinely and many countries have rich deposits of cultural material. Antiquities are highly collectable, and there are several prominent international centres for trade. As well as the legitimate face of the antiquities trade there therefore exists an international illicit market in which cultural objects are trafficked for profit in breach of national l...
Roger Atwood knows more about the market for ancient objects than almost anyone. He knows where priceless antiquities are buried, who is digging them up, and who is fencing and buying them. In this fascinating book, Atwood takes readers on a journey through Iraq, Peru, Hong Kong, and across America, showing how the worldwide antiquities trade is destroying what's left of the ancient sites before archaeologists can reach them, and thus erasing their historical significance. And it is getting worse. The discovery of the legendary Royal Tombs of Sipan in Peru started an epidemic. Grave robbers scouring the courntryside for tombs--and finding them. Atwood recounts the incredible story of the biggest piece of gold ever found in the Americas, a 2,000-year-old, three-pound masterpiece that cost one looter his life, sent two smugglers to jail, and wrecked lives from Panama to Pennsylvainia. Packed with true stories, this book not only reveals what has been found, but at what cost to both human life and history.
In May 1994, the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation recommended that the Director-General of UNESCO be invited to have specialised studies made by experts to clarify issues in cultural objects that are disputed or unclear. Collectors (both public and private), dealers, archaeologists, conservators and other specialists around the world were consulted either in person or by correspondence during its preparation.
Today, police forces all over the world use archaeological techniques to help them solve crimes Ð and archaeologists are using the same methods to identify and investigate crimes in the past. ??This book introduces some of those techniques, and explains how they have been used not only to solve modern crimes, but also to investigate past wrong-doing. Archaeological and historical evidence of crimes from mankind's earliest days is presented, as well as evidence of how criminals were judged and punished.?Each society has had a different approach to law and order, and these approaches are discussed here with examples ranging from Ancient Egypt to Victorian England Ð police forces, courts, pri...
It is a well-known fact that organised crime has developed into an international network including very diverse actors - ranging from the simple 'grave diggers' to powerful and wealthy white-collar professionals - that adopt illegal practices like money laundering, fraud and forgery.This criminal system, ultimately, damages and disintegrates our cultural identity and, in some cases, fosters political corruption, terrorism or civil unrest through the transnational and illicit trafficking of cultural property. The forms of 'ownership' of Cultural Heritage are often indistinct, and - depending on the national legislation of reference - the proprietorship and trade of historical and artistic ass...
The world's archaeological heritage is under threat. Many antiquities appear on the art market where they are being bought by museums and collectors. Review of the situation.