According to a new study, a small portion of a site can yield thousands of objects, adding up to millions of dollars.
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Articles on Antiquities
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There is a surprising amount of support for the destruction of antiquities in the Middle East.
What's needed is a comprehensive international strategy to combat the illicit trade in antiquities.
Looting of Iraq's national museum began on April 10, 2003. At least half of the artefacts taken remain missing and disturbingly, the illegal trade in stolen antiquities has grown in the years since.
Sales of antiquities legally excavated are just as ethically problematic as those likely looted.
Fake Cambodian sculptures have infiltrated the antiquities market, where they remain unacknowledged and their production continues unabated.
Treasures from pre-colonial southern Africa were suppressed because they contradicted apartheid's official history.
Profit estimates have ranged from $4 million to $7 billion. But with the Paris attacks costing only $10,000, does a number even matter?
The robust international laws meant to protect cultural heritage are worth little without real international action.
Conflict involving Islamic State has raised the prospect of the destruction of Palmyra, a World Heritage site in Syria. It's not the first time the region has been invaded, but it may well be the last.
The destruction of Iraq and Syria's cultural heritage is more than wanton vandalism – it's a grim political project.
Last week, The Australian reported that 49 artworks had been identified by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) with gaps in their ownership history that could signal they were stolen. Asian antiquities…
Iraq has a long and rich heritage, home for thousands of years to mighty empires – Assyria and Babylon, the Abbasid caliphate – that ruled the region once known as Mesopotamia, widely held as the cradle…
As Europe votes on a groundbreaking directive to help facilitate the return of stolen cultural treasures, the United States moves forward with legislation that would prevent claimants from recovering their…
The announcement today that the Australian government will return the US$5 million Chola-era Dancing Shiva to India, after months of scandal focused on the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) and art dealer…
Several members of the cast of the film The Monuments Men made headlines for expressing the view that the British Museum should return the Elgin Marbles to Athens after their “very nice stay” of 200 years…
What makes us human? Whatever it is, it can be found in Syria. When the earliest hominids first came from Africa they passed through Syria, and their remains, together with the tools they made, can still…
The looting of the Baghdad Museum in 2003 during the invasion of Iraq is an example the consequences of war on national heritage. Almost a decade on, the civil war in Syria has seen history repeating itself…
Top contributors
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Research associate, Newcastle University
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Senior Lecturer in Ancient History, Macquarie University
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Associate Professor, UNSW Art & Design, UNSW
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Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, University of Glasgow
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Director, Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, University of Melbourne
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Affiliate Researcher in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, University of Glasgow
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Professor of Ancient Middle Eastern History, UCL
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Education Manager, Sydney University Museums, University of Sydney
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Honorary Professor, International Heritage Law, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Archaeology, University of Leicester
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Lecturer in Law, Director of International Law Forum, University of Exeter
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Senior Lecturer in Museum Studies, UCL
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Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia
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Honorary Lecturer, UCL Institute of Archaeology, UCL
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Research Fellow in Archaeology, Flinders University
