Information Services

Archaeological Heritage and the Illicit Antiquities Trade

Reference and general works:

Brodie, Neil and Colin Renfrew. “Looting and the World’s Archaeological Heritage: the Inadequate Response.” Annual Review of Anthropology 34 (2005): 343-361.
Electronic subscription or Main Book Collection: GN1.A623 v.34

Pearson, Mike Parker. “Preserving and Presenting the Evidence.” Companion Encyclopedia of
Archaeology . Ed. Graeme Barker. New York: Routledge, 1999. 389-427.
Reference collection: CC70.C59 1999 volume 1

“Looting: a Global Crisis.” Cultural Resource Management 25.2 (2002). (special issue of a publication of the National Park Service -- available online)

Codes of ethics:

AIA (Archaeological Institute of America) Code of Ethics. AIA, 1990, amended 1997.  

Code of Ethics for Museums. American Association of Museums, 2000.

Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association. AAA, 1998.

ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums, 2006. International Council of Museums, 1986, amended 2001 and 2004.

International Code of Ethics for Dealers in Cultural Property. UNESCO, 1999.

Principles of Archaeological Ethics. SAA (Society for American Archaeology), 1996.

International Conventions:

Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), 1970.

UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects . The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), 1995.

United States Laws:

American Antiquities Act of 1906

Antiquities Act 1906–2006. Archeology Program, National Park Service, 2006.

Guidelines and Procedures for Repatriation, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, amended 2006.

NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act)

National NAGPRA

• The National NAGPRA program assists the Secretary of the Interior with some of the Secretary's responsibilities under NAGPRA, and focuses on NAGPRA implementation outside of the National Park System.

Reports:

Report of the AAMD Task Force on the Acquisition of Archaeological Materials and Ancient Art. Association of Art Museum Directors, 2004. (Member institutions are from the United States, Canada, and Mexico.)

Grenier, Robert, David Nutley and Ian Cochran, eds. Underwater Cultural Heritage at Risk: Managing Natural and Human Impacts. ICOMOS, 2006.

ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) World Report 2004-05 on Monuments and Sites in Danger. ICOMOS, 2005.

Locating books:

Use Caravan, the library catalog, to locate books at Connecticut College. Select the CTW Libraries button to locate books at Trinity College and Wesleyan University.

Search terms to try:

Antiquities (collection and preservation – optional term to add)

Archaeological thefts

Art thefts

Cultural property (protection or repatriation – add one of these optional terms)

Databases and Indexes:

Anthropology Plus

• Provides indexing of journal articles, reports, commentaries, edited works, and obituaries in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological,and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, material culture, and interdisciplinary studies. The index offers excellent coverage of all core periodicals in the field in addition to local and lesser-known journals. Coverage is from the late 19th century to the present. Combined U.S. and U.K. indexing for geographic breadth.

AnthroSource

• The American Anthropological Association (AAA) developed AnthroSource, in conjunction with the Univ. of California Press, to provide digital access to the AAA´s peer reviewed journals, newsletters, and bulletins. Provides full text for 15 AAA publications and indexing for others.

Art Index Full Text

• Covers 313 international art publications, including periodicals, yearbooks,and museum bulletins indexed from 1984 to the present. This database picks up citations from many related areas including archaeology.

Journals:

This is a sampling of titles that offer articles on this subject. Additional journal citations can be found using the Anthropology Plus, AnthroSource, and Art Index databases. Use the Journals A to Z list to find out if Connecticut College libraries subscribe to a particular journal in print or electronic format.

American Anthropologist   – Shain Library periodical (paper and electronic subscriptions)

American Indian Quarterly – Shain Library periodical (various electronic subscriptions)

American Journal of Archaeology -- Shain Library periodical (paper subscription; JSTOR for earlier volumes)

Anthropological Quarterly – Shain Library periodical (various electronic subscriptions)

Archaeology – Shain Library periodical (paper subscription)

Art Journal – Shain Library periodical (paper and electronic subscriptions)

Field Archaeologist – available through interlibrary loan

International Journal of Cultural Property – available through interlibrary loan

Museum Anthropology – Shain Library periodical (paper subscription)

Newsletters:

Culture Without Context – online newsletter of the Illicit Antiquities Research Center, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge

Web sites:

Cultural Property: its Illicit Trafficking and Restitution , UNESCO, Division of Cultural Heritage

Illicit Antiquities Research Center, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge

ICOMOS: International Council on Monuments and Sites

• ICOMOS is an international, non-governmental organization dedicated to the conservation of the world's historic monuments and sites. The organization was founded in 1965, as a result of the international adoption of the Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites in Venice the year before. Today the organization has National Committees in over 107 countries.
  ICOMOS is UNESCO's principal advisor in matters concerning the conservation and protection of monuments and sites. With IUCN-The World Conservation Union, ICOMOS has an international role under the World Heritage Convention to advise the World Heritage Committee and UNESCO on the nomination of new sites to the World Heritage List.

SAFE: Saving Antiquities for Everyone

• SAFE is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the world’s cultural heritage and raising public awareness of damage caused by the illicit antiquities trade.

UNESCO Cultural Heritage Laws Database

• The UNESCO database initiative will make relevant national legislation (of member states) available to organizations, institutions, private entities or individuals having a legal question concerning an object that may have been stolen or pillaged and/or illegally exported, imported, or acquired.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

U.S. State Department International Cultural Property Protection .

• The United States Department of State is responsible for implementing the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (the Act). This is the enabling legislation for the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. In accordance with the Act, United States Department of State accepts requests from countries for import restrictions on archaeological or ethnological artifacts, the pillage of which places their national cultural heritage in jeopardy.

World Heritage in Danger (UNESCO)

• The List of World Heritage in Danger is designed to inform the international community of conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List, and to encourage corrective action.