Culture Without The Newsletter of the Illicit Antiquities Research Centre Issue 12, Spring 2003 -·r 1 .~ I l ~ The Illicit Antiquities Research Centre is a project of the Mc Donald Institute for Archaeological Research. Illicit Antiquities Research Centre he Illicit Antiquities Research Centre (IARC) was establi shed in May 1996, T under th e auspi ces of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in Cambridge, England, and it commenced operations in October 1997. Its purpose is to monitor and report upon the damage caused to cultural heritage by th e interna­ ti onal trade in illi cit antiquities (i.e. antiquities which have been stolen or clandestinely excavated and illegally exported). The enormous increase in the vol­ ume of this trade over the past twenty years has caused the large-scale plundering of archaeological sites and museums around the world. The IARC wi ll raise publ ic awareness of the pro blems caused by this trade and seek appropri ate national and intern ati onal legislati on, codes of conduct and oth er conventions to pl ace restraint upon it. ClIll lIre Witholll COlllexl is publi shed tw ice-yearl y. The next issue will appea r in autum n 2003. Subsc ri pt ion detai ls are ava il ab le from: Jenny Doo le IARC McDonald Institu te fo r Archaeological Research Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3ER UK e-mail: jd244@ca m. ac. uk Front cover. Greek ivory head. possibly of Apollo. recovered in February 2003 (see p. 5). Staff: Add ress for corres pondence: Editorial Boa rd, McDonald Insti tu te for Archaeological fARC Director: Colin Ren frew ewe Research, Downing St, Cambridge , UK, CB2 3ER. fARC Co-ordinator: Neil Brodie hllp:Jlwww-mcdonald.arch.cam.ac.ukJIARC/home.hlm fARC Researcher: Jenny Doole Correspondence relating to all aspects of the legal and illegal ewe Editorial Board: Neil Brodie trade in antiquities is welcome; we will make an effort to print Augusta McMahon reasonable . non-libellous lett ers . No unsigned letters will be Chris Scarre printed , but names wi ll be withheld upon request. Peter Watson © 2003 McDonald In stitute for Archaeologica l Research Dora Kem p ewe Designer: Printed by BluePrint. 6 Cli fton Road. Cambridge. UK, CB1 7W6. ISSN 1464-1925 Tel: +44 (0)1223 472400 2 Editorial either. Yet the absence of clear provenance did not deter their sale. I ndeed, absence of prov­ enance presents no legal impediment to their sale. ulture is not the first casualty of war, nor is Yet while Iraq i artefacts of unknown origin con­ C it the most important, but the sack of Iraq 's tinue to be sold openly it is probably safe to National Museum and other cultural in stitutions assume that somewhere in Iraq archaeological towards the end of the recent Iraq connict caused sites are being dug out in the search for more. outrage around the world. The US and UK Gov­ One of the first responses to the looting of ernments were put on the defensive as high­ Iraq's National Museum has been to mount im­ ranking officials set about explaining why the mu­ ages taken fi·ommuseum catalogues and other pub­ seums had not been a fforded some degree of lications of what might be stolen material on the protection, not even a tank. No convincingjusti­ Internet. Websites include The Arl Newspaper at fication has yet emerged. The events of April http :// www.theartnewspaper.com/i raq m us/ 2003 were hardly a surpri se, regional museums stol en.html and the Oriental Institute of the Uni­ around Iraq were first looted at the end of the versity of Chicago at http://www.oi.uchicago.edu/ Gulf War and since then archaeological sites have Ol/IRAQ/iraq .html. There have also been calls been subject to chronic looting (see correspond­ for the construction ofa searchable data base which ence at http://www. mcdonald.cam.ac.uk/McD/ will store descriptions and images of stolen objects. iraq/acr-Iooting.htm). More and more material of These are good, practical measures, but in them­ probably Iraqi origin but no clear provenance has sel ves they are not enough. Data bases and cata­ been appearing on the Western market, and nei­ logues of stolen objects can deter the sale of objects ther Governments nor dealers ha ve done anything stolen from museums, or they might aid their about it. The justifi abl e outrage over the Iraq identincation and recovery, but data bases can museums should not be allowed to obscure the do nothing to prevent the trade in material that basic fact that archaeological sites throughout Iraq has been secretly and illegally excavatedfi·om ar­ have been and continue to be targeted by gangs chaeological sites. More is needed. For example, of looters in search of saleable artefacts. with the help of the US State Department the Inter­ There is a ready market for Iraqi material. national Council of Museums is preparing the In the days immediately following the break in Emergency Red List o/fraqi Anliquilies at Risk, at the National Museum I located 53 in scribed which will describe and illustrate categories of cuneiform tablets and cones for sa le on the material under threat from looting and theft. At Internet. It took me about an hour in total and so the velY least, there should be an immediate mora­ it was hardly an exhausti ve search, and as many torium on the trade of any object of a type ap­ ifnot most trade outlets do not maintain websites pearing on the Red List, unless it is accompanied the true number up for sale worldwide is any­ by written documentation of good provenance. body's guess. But what is important about these It should not be necessary in 2003 to be tablets is that they constitute a sample, they pro­ calling for a moratorium on trade. In theory at vide us with a glimpse of th e bigger picture, and least, for the past decade or so, trade in Iraqi ar­ none of them had any indication of provenance. tefacts has been outlawed by the UN Security Indeed, if anything, th e reverse was the case. Council's imposition of trade sanctions, although Many of the tablets were claimed to have been in practice these sanctions have had no notice­ authenticated and translated by Professor Wilfred able effect on the antiquities trade. They might Lambert, which implies that they were fresh to as well not have existed. The United Nations will the market and previously unknown. Indeed, Pro­ now be looking to lift trade sanctions as soon as fessor Lambert said as much himself when he it is practicable to do so, but it is imperative that was interviewed by the Nelli York Times (30 April restrictions are left in place for archaeological 2003). He was reported as saying that he had au­ material , and that they are enforced. thenticated several hundred objects from Iraq, and In the immediate aftermath of the war both that he did not know where any came from. He the US and UK governments confirmed that it is suspected the dealers he worked for did not know illegal to trade in archaeological material that has 3 left Iraq since the Gulf War. In the United King­ criminal offence. Neither th e United States nor dom, on 14 April 2003, the British Prime Minister the United Kingdom have signed the Hague Con­ Tony Blair announced in the House of Com mons vention, but if they had we can be sure that those that the British Govemment would do everything responsible for securing th e National Museum in its power to prevent the sale in the United King­ and other cultural sites and in stitutions through­ dom of cultural objects looted from Iraq, and also out Iraq would have been far more di li gent in the to ensure that any such objects that appear in execution of their charge. Britain wi ll be returned to Iraq and not sold. Tessa Jowell , the British Secretary of State for Culture, ~ In October 2002 The Ar! Newspaper re­ announced on 15 April that she had written to ~ ported the launch oftheAmeri can Council colleagues in the UK Government reminding for Cultural Policy (ACCP), whi ch has 45 advi­ them that under UN Resolutions it is illegal to sors, including lawyers fro m major museums, and import Iraqi antiquities into the UK. However, aims to advise on aspects of US legislation as it by the 29 April it was possible to di scern a weak­ relates to the art trade. Members of the ACCP ening of resolve when in a DCMS press release met w ith the US De partme nts of State and the Secretary of State made no mention of Gov­ Defense in January 2004 and soon found them­ ernment plans to impose an embargo on trade, selves embroiled in a public debate over what and on the 8 May the Government spokesperson exactly did or did not represent ACCP poli cy as in the House of Lords announced only that the regards Iraq 's antiquities laws. This debate was Government have alerted Customs of the need rather tiresome, as it drew attention away ii·om to enforce the current embargo. more serious policy shortfalls, and could have At the time of writing ( 12 May) there have been avoided. The problem is that nobody reall y been no reports of British police or customs of­ knows what are th e aims ofthe ACCP, what is its fic ers seizing any Iraqi artefacts of unknown membership, and what is its funding base.