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....

Focus, Special Report: Art Crime in Cambodia

Through the online Museum Security listserv, I've come across this video (here), a newscast from the Focus program, hosted by the France 24 International News network. Centering around the recent return of several pieces of Khmer statuary to Cambodia from the US, under the auspices/pomp and circumstance of the US State department, the video then goes further, discussing some more recent thefts, such as those now occurring from active Buddhist monasteries throughout SE Asia. An excellent teleconference interview is then conducted with Christopher Marinello, of the Art Loss Register in London.

In regards to the ongoing theft of early Historic and Angkorian statuary from more remote outlying temples, Mr. Marinello makes the good, but entirely obvious point that it's all about following the money. People coerced into looting believe they'll be automatically lifted out of poverty forever by the middlemen who con them, private dealers will pay millions and spend inordinate amounts of time planning "thefts to order," and the local law enforcement in many countries, including Heritage Police in Cambodia, are unfortunately still quite underfunded in response. As the video highlights well, the flow of money and artifacts these days is not merely from poorer non-Western countries to richer Western countries, but is transnational in the broadest sense of that word.

In my opinion, resources like the Art Loss Register can be a meaningful aid in the recovery of those large pieces that would most likely eventually be noticed to be missing (if, as noted, individuals and countries come forward to report the thefts), but much less effective in dealing with the no-questions asked antiquities trade that continue to fuel the destruction of prehistoric sites in Cambodia (and elsewhere). I have heard tell via online contacts that a "registry" system was proposed to the members of various dealer and "responsible" collector groups as a way to better sort those licit items in circulation for decades from those recently surfaced, but I have yet to see or hear of any initial implimentation of this idea. All in all, I commend France 24 International News for airing this expose and helping to give more exposure to the looting problem in Cambodia, but would've liked to have seen a segment detailing the threat to prehistoric sites, from which followers of this blog (and Heritage Watch) would know the majority of artifacts come from.

Scrambled Eggs?

Previously, it was reported on the Portable Antiquities Collecting and Heritage Issues blog (here) that a dinosaur egg "collected in the Henan province in China and (was) valued at $1,700" was stolen from the Otago Museum last week. The original reporter was asked by an independant observer if the thief or thiefs also happened to steal any export licence paperwork associated with this find, to demonstrate that it legally left China, but at the time of this writing, the answer to this question is not known. The answer is relevant, as if affirmative, it would both increase the likelihood that the egg entered the museum's shop by legal channels (perhaps sold as an excess 'common' specimen from the acquisition of an old excavation assemblage), and make it easier for the thief to sell to any "responsible" dealers.

Now The Southland Times reports (here) that a "52 year old Invercargill artist" has been arrested and charged in relation to the theft of the egg, which was very well recorded by the museum shop's video cameras. Apparently, the perpetrator was also brought up on unrelated shoplifting charges, and returned the egg (voluntarily?) after two days, leaving it in a shopping bag at the museum reception desk. This seems like a very basic and spur of the moment robery...probably done merely to pay off some minor debts, as without official collecting history paperwork and export license, no responsible dealer, gallery or auction house should touch it. Much the same as what should be done to perform due diligence on any suspect archaeological artifacts...an infrequent and incomplete process at best.

New Insights into Hanoi's Prehistory

The links here, from the China Daily Post and Thanh Nhien News.com, discuss the recent archaeological discovery (in April, this year) of approximately 15 "tombs" (read earthen pit graves) dating to the "Phung Nguyen" culture c. 3,500 BP, within the urban Dong Anh district of Hanoi, in advance of ongoing development. The excavation was lead by my colleagues Drs. Nguyen Lan Cuong and Lai Van Toi of the Vietnamese Institute of Archaeology (Vien Khao Co Hoc). The photo above-left is of Professor Lan Cuong himself hard at work*! The results of the excavation indicated that men, women and children were buried in this cemetery, and that the local "aristocracy" (here defined as individuals with a somewhat greater quantity of diverse ceramic and bronze grave goods), consisted of adult individuals with their upper incisors removed (a practice referred to as tooth ablation in the bioarchaeological literature). Numerous studies can now be done on these individuals to determine their place of birth, any familial connections within this so-called "aristocracy," dietary, health or activity differences between the sexes, comparison to other sites, etc. Let the science commence!

Although I take semantic issue with use of the term "aristocracy" when referring to the social organization of this still-poorly understood time period, the material culture found in the graves, and in surrounding and overlying archaeological stratigraphy, all make sense as belonging to the Red River plain Bronze Age sequence. The uppermost soil stratum was even reported to contain "a system of holes believed to be the outer most rampart of the Co Loa citadel," but this claim will certainly take more excavation over a wider area, and further analysis, to verify. Regardless of the final verdict, the recovery of an intact prehistoric site with burials in urban Hanoi is quite fortunate, as many of the objects, especially the ceramics and bronze artifacts, are common finds in urban "souvenir" shops, even if many of them turn up through field plowing in surrounding areas. Furthermore, uncontrolled development has damaged several sites throughout urban Vietnam. The fact that the Phung Nguyen burials were 1.5m under the modern ground surface no doubt helped preserve them. Hopefully, this is the first of a series of new sites that will be discovered and carefully excavated before they are destroyed as Hanoi continues to "modernize." Fingers crossed.

*=photo from Thanh Nhien Daily.com