Loot, legitimacy, and ownership :
Renfrew, Colin, 1937-
Loot, legitimacy, and ownership : the ethical crisis in archaeology / Colin Renfrew. - London : Duckworth, 2000. - 160 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm. - Duckworth debates in archaeology
Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-156) and index.
The destruction of the past -- Unprovenanced antiquities: the role of the private collector and the dealer -- Causes for concern: illegitimate acquisition and reluctant restitution -- A universal problem: Asia, Africa, America -- Ineffective safeguards and evolving moralities -- Antiquities in Britain: the local view -- Envoi: the past has an uncertain future.
"The world's archaeological heritage is under threat as never before, and th ultimate culprits are those very parties who claim to value the past: the museum and the private collector. In this eye-opening account, Colin Renfrew illustrates how the most precious product of archaeology ins the information that controlled and well-published excavations can give us about our shared human past. Clandestine and unpublished digging of archaeological sites for gain - i.e. looting - destroys the context and all hope of providing such information. It is the source of most of the antiquities that appear on the art market today - for example from Turkey, Cambodia, Peru, Mali, and also from Britain - unprovenanced antiquities, the product of illicit traffic financed, knowingly or not, by the collectors and museums that buy them on a no-questions-asked basis.
Professor Renfrew reviews some prominent recent scandals: the Lydian Treasure, returned to Turkey by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in new York; the Getty Kouros; the Weary Herakles, which the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston still refuses to return to its country of origin; the Salisbury Hoard; the Sevso Treasure.
The illicit antiquities trade has turned London along with other international centres into a 'thieves' kitchen' where greed triumphs over serious appreciation of the past. Unless a solution is found to this ethical crisis in archaeology, our record of the past will be vastly diminished. This book lays bare the misunderstanding and hypocrisy that underlie the crisis."-- Publisher's description." -- Publisher's description.
0715630342 paperback 9780715630341 paperback
Cultural property--Protection
Cultural property--Protection--International cooperation
Cultural property--Protection (International law)
Antiquities--Collection and preservation--Moral and ethical aspects
Archaeological thefts
Art thefts
363.69
Loot, legitimacy, and ownership : the ethical crisis in archaeology / Colin Renfrew. - London : Duckworth, 2000. - 160 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm. - Duckworth debates in archaeology
Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-156) and index.
The destruction of the past -- Unprovenanced antiquities: the role of the private collector and the dealer -- Causes for concern: illegitimate acquisition and reluctant restitution -- A universal problem: Asia, Africa, America -- Ineffective safeguards and evolving moralities -- Antiquities in Britain: the local view -- Envoi: the past has an uncertain future.
"The world's archaeological heritage is under threat as never before, and th ultimate culprits are those very parties who claim to value the past: the museum and the private collector. In this eye-opening account, Colin Renfrew illustrates how the most precious product of archaeology ins the information that controlled and well-published excavations can give us about our shared human past. Clandestine and unpublished digging of archaeological sites for gain - i.e. looting - destroys the context and all hope of providing such information. It is the source of most of the antiquities that appear on the art market today - for example from Turkey, Cambodia, Peru, Mali, and also from Britain - unprovenanced antiquities, the product of illicit traffic financed, knowingly or not, by the collectors and museums that buy them on a no-questions-asked basis.
Professor Renfrew reviews some prominent recent scandals: the Lydian Treasure, returned to Turkey by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in new York; the Getty Kouros; the Weary Herakles, which the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston still refuses to return to its country of origin; the Salisbury Hoard; the Sevso Treasure.
The illicit antiquities trade has turned London along with other international centres into a 'thieves' kitchen' where greed triumphs over serious appreciation of the past. Unless a solution is found to this ethical crisis in archaeology, our record of the past will be vastly diminished. This book lays bare the misunderstanding and hypocrisy that underlie the crisis."-- Publisher's description." -- Publisher's description.
0715630342 paperback 9780715630341 paperback
Cultural property--Protection
Cultural property--Protection--International cooperation
Cultural property--Protection (International law)
Antiquities--Collection and preservation--Moral and ethical aspects
Archaeological thefts
Art thefts
363.69