Two Blogs to Watch Out For...

Two blogs have recently come to my attention that both, in their own way, highlight certain aspects of the antiquities trade/heritage preservation issues worldwide, and deserve further exposure here.

The first blog, simply called "Looting," administered by Dr. Nathan Craig and Margaret Brown-Vega, details the ongoing threat of grave robbing/looting ('huaqueando' in Spanish) still encountered throughout Peru and South America. Most entries consist primarily of photos of all the scattered remains, discarded "worthless" artifacts, and irreparably scarred landscapes left behind by looting. The broken bones, the complete ceramics with holes punched through them from looter's testing poles, the cloth scraps, hair, etc. All that context and irreplaceable data, all that disrespect and violation of the ancestors, just so the still-impoverished looters can feed the habits of rich middlemen and the international market. As poignant as the blog is, this is the kind of information that needs to be broadcast far and wide, wherever it occurs.

The other blog, "Culture in Peril," is run by one Mr. Nicholas Merkelson, an up-and-coming early career archaeologist and cultural heritage specialist with field experience from Spain to Kenya, museological experience at the National Museum of Natural History and National Museum of Kenya, and current employment with Adventures in Preservation, a sustainable heritage tourism company. With a world-wide focus, centred more on the ethics/controversy inherent in heritage conservation, site preservation, and the illicit trade in themselves, more than news from any one region, this blog nevertheless offers well-reasoned arguments, a breadth of stories and unrestricted commenting. To quote from his initial post (Feb 7th, 2010) "Culture in Peril will point followers towards the latest reports of heritage issues ongoing in the world today and provide insight into why and how these issues are--and must be--a concern to every individual." In this blogger's opinion, Culture in Peril is meeting it's goal very well!

Keep up the good work, and Season's Greetings, readers!

Let's Not Forget the Palaeontologists...

Despite the number of times that archaeologists get confused for palaeontologists (no, we do NOT excavate dinosaur bones), it is easy to overlook the fact that those who do uncover the world's pre-Homo sapiens past often face their own set of illicit smuggling/collecting threats to their work, field sites, and continued integrity as a scientific discipline. This recent article from the New York Times highlights these problems well.

The article details the ongoing illicit excavation and smuggling threat to an immense cache of 40 million year old marine reptile, shark and whale fossils, now being gradually exposed by the elements in Peru's Ocucaje desert, near the south coast city of Ica. Discoveries include "gigantic fossilized teeth from the legendary 50-foot shark called the megalodon, the bones of a huge penguin with surprisingly colorful feathers and the fossils of the Leviathan melvillei, a whale with teeth longer than those of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, making it a contender for the largest predator ever to prowl the oceans." The area is becoming well known to palaeontologists with marine mammal specializations, such as Dr. Christian de Muizon, of the Natural History Museum of Paris, perhaps rivaling parts of Pakistan, long known for its concentration of whale fossils.

However, now that so many nearby, and national, archaeological sites have been/are being looted out, smuggling attention is turning to fossils. Peruvian law classifies fossils along with archaeological artifacts as "national patrimony," and thus special permission is needed for their export. The hyper-remoteness of the region, it's aridity, and the near-complete lack of police presence means enforcement's more or less a pipe-dream. Indeed, many shops in Ica itself sell fossils: shark teeth for from $60-100, with rarer pieces going for higher. I wonder what kind of documentation comes with purchase, or is available upon request to prove that one's new store-bought fossil was excavated according to best palaeontological practice? If that segment of the illicit fossil trade that violates international laws at the behest of greedy dealers is anything like the antiquities trade (and it's clear that it is), I'm guessing the answer is no. According to the article, it's mostly itinerant seaweed harvesters/merchants who collect fossils on their way back from the coast. I would guess that this is not the world's most lucrative profession, thus making the urge to brave tough conditions in the desert a strong one.

According to the article, 2,200 seizures of illicit fossil cargo occurred this year at Lima's airport, up from 800 last year. This could be viewed in one of two ways: does the increase mean illicit smuggling attempts are increasing, or that customs agents are getting better at recognizing fossils and the tell-tale signs of concealed cargo, or both? It's hard to tell. What is apparent is that this is a growing concern, even in this remote region, as the still-impoverished huaqeros (tomb robbers) look for new ways to feed the market. By way of summary, the article linked to above details the rescue of more than one dozen Chimu-era artifacts robbed from a tomb near Conache, with a lawyer now contacted, and police and archaeologists stepping up patrol of the area. Similarly, professional palaeontologists, both local and foreign, must now race against time, the elements, and the criminal underworld to complete expensive field expeditions successfully, when they are fortunate enough to find good specimens of the species they're after. With the palaeontological community aware of the problem, it is now up to ethical local dealers and international buyers to cut off the illicit market at the source, only allowing sale of 'duplicate' skeletal elements from common species with a complete paper-trail and provenance provided. Buen suerte, Peru!

Pakistani Smuggling Attempt Thwarted...

A new article from the Daily Times (a national newspaper out of Pakistan), brought to my attention via the Museum Security listserv, reports on a significant confiscation of artifacts bound for export, but stopped at the Allama Iqbal airport, Lahore. The Federal Archaeology Department recovered a shipment of 272 ceramics and pieces of Gandharan statuary (although the presence of the latter is not clear from the article) originating from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan regions, including the Kuli site complex, but that some of the smaller ceramic objects might even have been unearthed on personal property, during home or yard maintenance for example.

Noting that artifacts such as these will often end up in the hand of collectors all over the world, the confiscating official lamented "ancient sites are plundered for short-term gains, this results in both the loss of heritage to indigenous people and irreparable damage to archaeological sites." Very savvy words indeed! Cultural heritage law in Pakistan dictates that if an object is verified authentic, but less than 75 years old, it is returned to its owner. In this instance, apparently the smuggling attempt wasn't well-disguised, and an on-the-spot determination of the general antiquity of the artifacts could be made, warranting their being turned over to the FAD. The stark cut-off point of 75 years applies even to small, more 'personal' items, as the ex-wife of famous Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan found out 15 years ago, when she attempted to take a few tiles from the couple's house out of the country, but was arrested and tried for antiquities smuggling instead, the customs official reported.

The international and Pakistani archaeological communities are fortunate that, this time, the relevant authorities were on the ball, and this confiscation could be made. However, we in the illicit trade monitoring world know that for every one apprehension, many more get through. Thus, the burden of proof remains firmly on the shoulders of international galleries, such as Gandhara Galleries, to demonstrate that the 'priceless' objects they are selling for a fraction of their true, immeasurable, worth (while still reaping absorbitant profits) are either replicas, or have valid pre-1970s export licenses and, ideally, completely in-tact paper trails from surfacing to export to sale. Since it's all too apparent that most recent artifacts smuggled from places such as Pakistan will lack this documentation, dealers and galleries can't provide it, and most don't care, confiscations like this will, at least occasionally, continue.

Another Arrest Made!

Another arrest, this time of two men from Harihar, Karnataka (names given as Parashuram and Vijayanand) was made this past Monday in the ongoing case of the smuggling of idols and statuary out of southern Indian temples. Specifically, these two individuals "used to steal ancient Panchaloha (alloy of five metals) idols as well as gold and silver ornaments from temples, Bhootasthanes, Jain Basadis etc., located in Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts since the last some years." Targeted this time was the Panchaloha idol of Karvalu Vishnumurty temple, Erlappady village, a conch shell with silver foil covering, a statue "belonging to Hiriyadka Garody," and the Panchaloha idol belonging to Brahmavar Mahalingeshwar temple.

All were recovered when the arrests were made, and a van and motorbike used for transpart were also seized. Occasionaly, artifacts such as these are unearthed from controlled or uncontrolled archaeological contexts, but this arrest represents yet another example of targeted looting from poorly guarded, but actively used temples. Thanks again go to Mr. Santosh Kumar, local deputy director of police, and his Provincial and local detective colleagues. It will be interesting to see if further investigation of the (any) paper trail linking these statues to a pre-arranged international buyer, local middle-men, or even upscale 'final destination galleries, will be brought to light this time.

A report on the Berlin conference...finally!

Ok, I've finally found time to gather my thoughts and write about goings-on at the EurASEAA conference just passed in Berlin. All in all, a roaring success! Held at the Free University of Berlin (nestled in the midst of a leafy residential area on the Southwest edge of the city...unfortunately far from a diversity of food options), but still within quick metro ride to the heart of Berlin, and the conference venues were sleek, modern, and provided excellent acoustics. Participation stood at around 200 people (by my estimate); small but comfortable as conferences go, with only two-three overlapping sessions at any one time, and easy movement between rooms.

Sessions covered topics ranging from new research on prehistoric exchange networks in beads and glass, to maritime archaeology itself (shipwrecks, boat construction, merchant marine iconography etc.), new insights into the Southeast Asian Palaeolithic period (i.e. the "Hoabinhian"), a small representation of bioarchaeologists/palaeoanthropologists (like myself), and a session covering/reassessing the terminology, and archaeological, linguistic, and skeletal evidence we use to define and understand the still-vague "Neolithic" period (c. 6,000-3,500BP?). This was where I presented...the "only bioarchaeologist in the village." Regardless, I feel that our session came together particularly well, raising many critical issues. The need for more data and more excavations is never ending in archaeology, especially in this still under-explored region.

Other panels discussed new GIS/geophysical/archaeological work on the Angkorian road system, the increasing number of late prehistoric (c. 500BC-50AD) sites knows from the Mekong Delta region (some represented by very large, but partially looted burial grounds), new rock art research in Malaysia, new archaeological survey work in the Laos/Cambodia border region, new excavations in Sumatra, and even the discovery of vast burial grounds, with associated settlement sites and metal weapon/jewelry manufacturing centres, in the still under-explored Yunnan-Guizhou area of southern China, dating to as early as 3,300BP. Sessions were well moderated, timely, and usually feedback was relevant. Several authors had books for sale, and Prof. Ian Glover (something of a deity in this field) was signing copies of an edited volume devoted to his life and times. I got mine!

Although catering was a bit lacking, we all had a lovely reception at the German Archaeological Institute and the Ethnological Museum, with mid-conference tours on offer to the Pergamon Museum and Neues Museum; repositories of the early 1900's German contribution to both nascent world archaeology (mostly Classical), and the "encyclopedic museum," with all its pros and cons as far as Heritage and the antiquities trade is concerned. Seeing the original "Helen of Troy" artifacts from the Schleimann excavation, and the original bust of Nefertiti (along side impressive exhibits on European prehistory etc.) was certainly awe-inspiring, displayed as they were within suitably contextualized exhibits, but the same arguments can be leveled against these institutions as can be directed towards the major museums of any former colonialist power regarding their retention of such artifacts for so many decades; enough already! It was fascinating to me to learn so much more about Germany's pre-and post World War role in the development of archaeology as a discipline, in the city to which so many early excavations returned, and from which many of Germany's current contributors to Southeast Asian archaeology hail from.

Throughout the conference, only minimal attention was given to the issue of looting, or sites under threat from such activities, but it was clear to me that many of the new sites discovered and recently excavated were only done so because archaeologists found them first; not due to any sudden uptick in the protection of the region's prehistoric past. Of course, this is a problem needing to be further monitored, as the antiquities trade continues to take its tole. While the new research disseminated at the conference certainly represents (for the most part) cutting edge analyses of new discoveries, it remains to be seen how the Southeast Asian archaeological community itself will continue to address, and more proactively deal with, the looting problem...to the extent that we can control it. Thus, while still presenting new research, this blog will continue to put the antiquities trade front and centre....where it belongs!

Take 2

Ok, maybe promising "live blogging" when on a conference schedule, still jetlagged, and having many colleagues to catch up with was a bit of a stretch! However, I can report that I took copious notes which I'll share the highlights of very soon; attending more than 3/4ths of all presentations, and leaning many new things about SE Asian art history/archaeology...the bulk of these new discoveries remaining under threat. I am in New York for one week now to visit SAFE (savingantiquities.org) colleagues. A real update soon, I promise.

Live blogging from Berlin

I am currently at the 13th Annual European Association for Southeast Asian archaeologists conference in Berlin, Germany. I will present preliminary results from my ongoing dissertation work, and I hope to give you, dear readers, one or two updates while here regarding the cutting edge research occurring in the region today. Although only one session specifically deals with heritage conservation, the looting problem is one that all Western archaeologists in collaboration with local colleagues have to continue to address. So, stay tuned for more....