Abstract
Fifty years after the adoption of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, the illicit trade in cultural objects endures, with harmful consequences to local communities, knowledge acquisition, and archaeological landscapes and objects. In this article, we present a gap analysis to assess under-performing policy and practice. We argue that a poor understanding of how the trade is organized and operates and of how it might be regulated hinders effective policy formulation. Funding structures which encourage short-term ad hoc research and inhibit information sharing are in part responsible for some of the gaps. We conclude by suggesting how sustained theoretically informed, evidence-led collaborative analyses might help reduce or mitigate these problems, preventing another 50 years of illicit trade.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 117-130 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Field Archaeology |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 9 Nov 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 17 Feb 2022 |
Keywords
- cultural policy
- antiquities trafficking
- heritage crime
- antiquities market
- ethics
- UNESCO
- ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
- CRIME
- TRAFFICKING
- RESPONSES
- POLICY
- SYRIA