Nature


Illicit antiquities are a major resource for traffickers, ranking among other highly trafficked commodities such as narcotics. UNESCO estimates the legal antiquities trade to be worth US$2.2 billion annually; however, the financial scope of the illicit trade is ultimately unknowable as black market statistics are notoriously difficult to ascertain. A precise characterization of the trade has arguably eluded researchers since the observable aspects of antiquities trafficking have proved to be incredibly variable.

The antiquities trade has many similarities with the other commodities trafficked through networks. Demand in wealthy countries drives individuals in economically depressed countries to export material abroad. This is characterized in the antiquities trade by artifacts passing transnationally from archaeological sites in “source” countries to collections in “market” countries, typically via transit countries. Transporting illicit artifacts from source to market requires organization, though not necessarily centralization, and sources on antiquities trafficking show a vast population of participants, from farmers to university-trained antiquities experts, whose only connection is a shared opportunity.

Looting on land is widespread and found in nearly every country. Illegal excavators visit remote archaeological sites or those near cities under the cover of darkness. In some countries they use heavy equipment to move massive amounts of earth, while others use shovels and spades.

Looting on Land

There are three types of underwater looting. Poorer individuals remotely pulling up artifacts using nets or hooks. Using SCUBA equipment or free diving, others directly loot sites. Finally, treasure hunters use large scale marine exploration equipment to locate and salvage shipwrecks.

Looting Underwater

Sources

Adler, Christine, and Kenneth Polk. “The Illicit Traffic in Plundered Antiquities.” In Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice, edited by Philip Reichel, 98–113. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005.

Atwood, Roger. Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the AncientWorld. New York: St. Martin’s, 2004.

Bator, Paul. “An Essay on the International Trade in Art.” Stanford Law Review 34 (1982): 275–384.

Bichler, Gisela, Stacy Bush, and Alili Malm. "Bad actors and faulty props: unlocking legal and illicit art trade." Global Crime 14 (2013): 359-385.

Bowman, Blythe. “Transnational Crimes Against Culture: Looting at Archaeological Sites and the “Grey” Market in Antiquities.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 24 (2008): 225–42.

Brodie, Neil, Jenny Doole, and Peter Watson. Stealing History: The Illicit Trade in Cultural Material. Cambridge, UK: MacDonald Institute for Archaeology Research, 2000.

Calvani, Sandro. “Frequency and Figures of Organized Crime in Art and Antiquities.” In Organised Crime in Art and Antiquities, edited by Stefano Manacorda, 29–40. ISPAC: Milan, 2009.

Charney, Noah. “Art Crime in Context.” In Art and Crime, Exploring the Dark Side of the Art World, edited by Noah Charney, xvii–xxv. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2009.

Conklin, John. Art Crime. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994.

Elia, Ricardo. “A Seductive and Troubling Work.” In Archaeological Ethics, edited by Karen Vitelli, 54–61. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 1996.

Felch, Jason, and Ralph Frammolino. Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at theWorld’s Richest Museum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

Hoving, Thomas. Making the Mummies Dance: Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.

ICOM. Red List of Afghanistan Antiquities at Risk. Paris: International Council of Museums, 2008.

Kersel, Morag. “From the Ground to the Buyer: A Market Analysis of the Illegal Trade in Antiquities.” In Archaeology, Cultural Heritage and the Antiquities Trade, edited by Neil Brodie, Morag Kersel, Christina Luke, and Katheryn Walker Tubb, 188–205. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006.

Kline, Thomas. “Art Market.” In Yearbook of Cultural Property Law, edited by David Tarler and Sherry Hutt, 101–18. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2008.

MacKenzie, Simon R. M. Going, Going, Gone: Regulating the Market in Illicit Antiquities. Leicester, UK: Institute of Art and Law, 2005.

Merryman, John Henry. “Two Ways of Thinking about Cultural Property.” American Journal of International Law 80 (1986): 831–53.

Stanish, Charles. “Forging Ahead: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love eBay.” Archaeology May 2009.

UNESCO. International Flows of Selected Cultural Goods and Services, 1994–2003: Defining and Capturing the Flows of Global Cultural Trade. Montreal: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2005.

Watson, Peter. Sotheby’s: The Inside Story. New York: Random House, 1997.

Watson, Peter, and Cecilia Todeschini. The Medici Conspiracy: The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities from Italy’s Tomb Raiders to the World’s Greatest Museums. New York: BBS Public Affairs, 2007.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+Share
Translate »