Season's Greetings to One and All

In case you're wondering where I've gone, this interim post is to wish one and all the warmest holiday season....and in so doing, confirm that I live. Or that I have risen from the dead at least. As you can imagine, postdoctoral research and writing responsibilities have kept me super busy, and I must admit that unique topics to blog about (beyond rehashing the news-something I already share on Twitter and Facebook, or discussing my personal schedule), have eluded me of late.

However, I feel that I am slowly getting back into the spirit of blogging, and therefore, a couple of lengthy expose style posts are in the works. What prospects and challenges might arise from the application of stable isotope geochemistry to the antiquities trade? Stay tuned to find out! Also, my thoughts regarding what I heard and learned at this recent Drexel University workshop will be coming to a SAFE blog near you. May one and all have as good of a 2015 as I hope to. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

DC: Initial Journeys

Just in case y'all were wondering, this post can confirm I'm still alive! I've hit the ground running here in DC, diving head first into my exciting new project. Despite the seemingly never-ending admin necessary to enter the Smithsonian network, I have managed to find the time to travel and (begin) to explore around DC, make an empty apartment into a home, and enjoy the wonderful spring weather (while it lasts). Life has been very hectic but fun, and a routine is now more or less established. While I have yet to work within the grand old Natural History Museum building (photo courtesy of the author), I will, and I can't wait! Wish me luck, and a good map; that place is huge!

On the illicit antiquities trade research front, things also continue to go well. Especially now that I am on the ground, I am only just beginning to appreciate the number and variety of relevant events I can potentially access and learn from, whether at the Smithsonian or not. I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture by SAFE Beacon Award winner Dr. Monica Hanna (reviewed here) at the Woodrow Wilson Centre (very prestigious, but a good audience). On the other hand, I was also fortunate enough to attend a small workshop entitled "Round table on Reform: U.S. Cultural Property Policy, Law and the Public Interest," held at the National Press Club. Quiet the eye opening event! 

A full transcript of the April 10th, 2014 symposium on which the round table followed on from is available here, but myself and a colleague are working on a more in-depth op-ed that lays out our reflections on what we saw (just as soon as I gather mine from among my notes and the myriad other tasks that accompany the start of a post-doctoral project). Suffice to say, while a few fair points were raised by the speakers, I (and probably any other illicit-trade savvy archaeologist in the room) left with a bad taste in our mouths... That being said, it can only be a good thing that such meetings are accessible and free to the (registered) public. This can only bolster further dialog. 

Speaking of new research, I am also happy to report that (by some miracle) some funding has been found for me to attend a small but important art crime and cultural heritage law conference in Geneva, Switzerland, this June. On behalf of my colleague Prof. Duncan Chappell, I will present a summary of our pilot research in Vietnam this past January, to an audience that (excitingly) includes many big names in the biz...people whose work I admire and who I've wanted to meet for some time. How I, perhaps the sole archaeologist and/or bioarchaeologist in the room will be accepted is unknown, but perhaps that just means my talk and perspective will be that much more unique? Hope so! 

So, to those who follow my exploits, please "watch this space" as things continue to develop into the summer. Publications will be submitted, released and shared, cool guest lectures will be attended, museums explored and written about, and science will march onwards! Summer undergraduate interns arrive soon, and all Fellows are expected to give a presentation related to their project as well as help staff advisers manage the mob. Exposing eager minds to cutting-edge archaeological research at the Smithsonian as it happens will (should be...) a treat. If the rising humidity (and the rising tide of tiny school children touring the stately halls) don't swallow me up first. What will happen next? Stay tuned! 

Homework Sucks!

As many of you out there can recall from your school days, not doing your homework, even just once or twice, would almost surely make you fall behind. Some might cheat to try to catch up, some might beg "the smart kid" for answers (but I'll be your best friend!), and some might accept their fate and be more diligent.

This metaphor perfectly sums up the moral of a story that has recently come to my attention. A figurative cry for help has reached me, in the form of a comment left on my VERY first blog entry for SAFE, way back in April, 2010. Who would've imagined anyone still read that far back?! Let's see what's going on.

As you can see if you click on the link above, on October 24th, someone simply going by the name Mo has commented. In it, he informs myself (and all of SAFE) that he'd recently bought five rings from BC Galleries (referred to as a Local Antique shop...does this mean he's in Melbourne)? He wants my personal help in ID'ing/authenticating, as he's "not good at Hellenic culture." Right...like I am?!

The story continues with the assertion that he's a "university accounting student also interested in Antique," but that he went ahead and spent $2,700 US (allegedly) on these rings...without getting anything independently verified first! If this is true, I'd also assume that he only found out about SAFE and my blog post after the fact. One would hope! He goes on to beg my help as, apparently, he could find no appropriate specialists in Australia (not even at the undisclosed "Local Museum"). No experts, he says? Perhaps it's merely that he's worried the experts won't help...because since when is it their responsibility? They have enough on their plates! I have thus become his "last hope."

So, seems like Mo wants me to "do his homework" for him, perhaps after the fact. Either he's clueless and got had, so now reaches out to whomever he can in the hope that someone can assuage his buyer's remorse with a vindication that he's purchased real items...and to hell with considerations such as import/export legality or whether he's holding "toxic antiquities."

On the other hand, would a Uni accounting student (!) with apparently some cash to blow (lucky him!) buy no-questions-asked online? Wouldn't you want to talk to the dealer in person first? Would any but the most gullible ever buy, say, a car from a used-car salesman (not known for their honesty, alas) without performing "due diligence" first?

If anything resembling a licit global market entirely separate and not fed by the illicit market is ever going to exist, if that's even possible, then everyone involved on the demand side has the utmost responsibility to perform due diligence not just afterwards when caught or investigated (or uneasy about one's purchases). When one tries to click on the links to each individual catalog item as offered in his original comment, "not found" messages appear.

Given the numerous evidence-based arguments put forth already that strongly suggest licit can't be separated from illicit in this case (see here and here), I have my doubts. If such a development can ever occur in any meaningful sense, it will be a celebration worthy public policy outcome of new research in this field welcomed by many I'm sure.

As this unexpected example shows, and as we in this scholarly/investigative field continually stress, everyone who voluntarily chooses to further this risky business via "ethical" participation at any level MUST "do their own homework" by asking all the right questions, not just the most pressing afterthoughts.

10 Years After...

This month marks the ten year anniversary of the tragic looting of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad during the initial days of the US occupation. Numerous pieces remain missing from this event, and the museum remains closed to the general public. Only the work of the late Donny George and his staff, with the assistance of the US military, prevented the complete loss of the museum's entire collections and archives. Work to restore this institution is, understandably, very slow going.

To commemorate this event and why it still matters in terms of the global looting crisis and continued discussion of the role of museums and concerned private citizens in preventing the trade, SAFE is running a virtual candle lighting campaign so that the world community can honour what was lost and look towards the future. Candle lighting and other, written or multi-media contributions will be accepted until July, and hosted on the website.

You, too, can light a candle here, as well as watch a relevant video here and read my own reflections here (as part of SAFEs additional campaign to collect personal reflections from heritage professionals and concerned citizens alike). Please help me spread the word, and join the cause yourself! What future, without our past?

New SAFE blog post: Nancy Dupree in Afghanistan

A new blog post has 'surfaced' on the SAFE site within the last few days that I am happy to share. It features an important interview with one Nancy Hatch Dupree, dubbed by some as "Afghanistan's grandmother." The interview in insightful and even poignant, and describes her (and her late archaeologist husband's) own personal history and connection to the country, its archaeological heritage, preserving this heritage, and the ongoing work of the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University that she and her late husband helped found. All this in the face of the constant strife plaguing the country over the last three decades. Worth checking out!

A SAFE Haven

Just a reminder to my readers to please support the efforts of SAFE (Saving Antiquities for Everyone) in whatever way you can. The antiquities trade is a global crisis, and SAFE remains one of the only full-time organizations dedicated to education and outreach around the world; doing their (our) best to demonstrate and communicate that looting and the antiquities trade are deleterious wherever they occur. Furthermore, by now several other regionally-specific antiquities trade/heritage conservation focused blogs or organizations, including this one, connect to SAFE, and we all must stand in solidarity.

Repatriation Down Under

In the spirit of a recent post over on the SAFECorner blog, regarding the repatriation of Native American remains under NAGPRA laws, now 20years on, I would like to take this opportunity to share a repatriation story from my adopted "home," Australia. This story conserns the return and reburial of two adult skeletons, ceremonially wrapped in bark cloth and buried according to the still-living mortuary customs of the Bundjalung people, whose Country lies near Lismore, New South Wales, after being stored for 200 years at the Leiden University Medical Centre in Holland.

Originally spirited out of Australia for "research purposes" by the famed botanist Joseph Banks, they were seemingly quickly forgotten about until an effort was made to identify and track them down as part of Australia's "National Repatriation Program," overseen by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Ethnographers from the National Museum of Australia, here in Canberra, as well as the Dutch ambassador (left nameless in this article), helped to assure their smooth transfer to the National Museum, and then Southern Cross University (near Lismore) upon their return to Australia, while two Bundjalung community elders (Gwenn Hickling and John Morrissey) traveled to Leiden to oversee the first stage of the repatriation. What is especially touching to me is the immense pride that several younger members of the community felt knowing these 'old people' have now returned. This even included the singing of a Welcome song by Goonellabah Public School students in the local language, part of continuing efforts at cultural and linguistic preservation/revival. Good on them!

It is not specified as to how much, if any, the remains were anthropologically or osteologically studied and recorded before repatriation occurred, nor what exact criteria was used to determine that the Bundjalung community are the closest living descendants. Like much of coastal temparate/tropical Australia, the Lismore/Richmond Rivers area would've been home to numerous small, linguistically distinct groups at the time of European contact. This, to me, demostrates that 100% certain, 1:1 examples of archaeological/ethnohistoric remains being matched to one particular ethnic group is still problematic across much of Autralia, as it is in America, Canada, and anywhere else that Western contact saw the forced movement and mixing of peoples. Indeed, there are even claims, primarily made by the descendants of European settlers, that the peoples known as Arakwal and Bundjalung "don't exist," but the validity of this is hotly contested. However, it is possible that supporting documentation/"labeling" by Banks himself might have been curated along with the remains and associatied mortuary artifacts. Nevertheless, this is an event that should be celebrated by all, given the solace it has so obviously provided. As Elder Bertha Kapeen stated, "It's very significant for Aboriginal people everywhere, not just here."