The plundered past: deplorable present, dismal future?

The plundered past: deplorable present, dismal future? NEIL NEIL Nuclear Electric Insurance LimitedNEIL Network Engineering and Integration Lab BRODIE, MORAG M. KERSEL, CHRISTINA LUKE & KATHRYN WALKERTUBB (ed.). Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and the Antiquities Trade Antiquities trade is the trade in historical artifacts from around the world. This trade may be illicit or completely legal. The illicit antiquities trade involves non-scientific extraction that ignores the archaeological and anthropological context from which the artifacts derive. .xiv+350 pages, 33 illustrations, 3 tables. 2006. Gainesville (FL):University Press of Florida; 0-8130-2972-4 hardback $65. JULIETTE VAN KRIEKEN-PIETERS (ed.). Art and Archaeology ofAfghanistan: Its Fall and Survival (Handbuch der Orientalistik 8).xxii+412 pages, 64 b&w & colour plates, 1 map. 2006. Leiden& Boston: Brill; 978-90-04-15182-6 hardback [euro]89 & $116. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The history and development of archaeology is filled withfascinating ironies and contradictions. Unlike many other fields, someof the more spectacular and ground-breaking discoveries happened earlyon in the history of the discipline when the scientific techniques wererudimentary compared to today's standards. Given the increasedprofessionalism of archaeology and the immense public interest in mostthings archaeological, it would be logical to think that at the outsetof the twenty-first century the outlook and state of the field would bepositive, and that the various nation states, their museums andinstitutions would have taken concrete steps to protect current andpotential archaeological sites to ensure that archaeology would thrivein the future. But, based on the accounts in the two books under review,nothing could be further from the truth. The outlook is bleak, posingserious and challenging questions to the field. Archaeology, cultural heritage and the antiquities trade The concepts of loss and destruction are central to the essays inthe volume edited by Neil Brodie et aL Covering many areas of the world(including Central America Central America,narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. , the Middle East and South Asia This article is about the geopolitical region in Asia. For geophysical treatments, see Indian subcontinent. South Asia, also known as Southern Asia ), thecontributors in this inter-disciplinary volume direct their attentiontowards the side of archaeology that has long been in the dark, onissues such as the illegal trafficking in antiquities and the lootingand plundering of archaeological sites. Yet what makes this volumeinteresting is that it also problematises and raises serious questionsabout the legal antiquities market and how it is transforming theaesthetic and social values of archaeology. Though most of the essays were specifically commissioned for thisvolume, a significant portion are expanded conference papers that werepresented at the Fifth World Archaeological Congress The World Archaeological Congress (WAC) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization which promotes world archaeology.Established in 1986, WAC holds an international Congress every four years to promote the exchange of results from archaeological research; professional in 2003. NellBrodie's succinct and useful introduction draws attention to thefact that the international antiquities trade is 'booming' (p.1) but that many of the antiquities are removed destructively andexported illegally from their countries of origin. This activity notonly has obvious negative effects on archaeological sites but also a lotof valuable historical information is lost in the process. Brodie callsfor more transparency in the antiquities trade market and issues achallenge to academics to study more carefully the 'socialrelationships that constitute the trade and its institutions' (p.19). The rest of the seventeen essays are roughly divided into twoparts. On the one hand there are those who take a macro view and discussgeneral legal, ethical and commercial dimensions. On the other, theauthors take a micro view and offer an analysis of specific instancessuch as the plunder TO PLUNDER. The capture of personal property on land by a public enemy, with a view of making it his own. The property so captured is called plunder. See Booty; Prize. of the Ulua Valley in Honduras. In the former group, prominent scholars such as Lyndel V. Prott,Patty Gerstenblith and Colin Renfrew offer up-to-date essays that focusespecially on the legal framework and the role of museums. Prott'sessay on protecting cultural heritage in conflict is frustratinglyshort: it provides a brief overview of the 1954 Hague Convention The longtime status of Netherlands as a largely neutral nation in international conflicts and the corresponding ascendance of The Hague as a primary location for diplomatic and international conferences has led to several negotiated conventions over the years being termed the and itssucceeding and associated Protocols. It is in that context that sheevaluates the effects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, noting that thevarious international agreements did little to stem the destruction ofIraqi heritage. Despite the limitations of international law, Prottnevertheless still believes that it is necessary to develop moreeffective legal frameworks to limit future obliterations ofarchaeological artefacts during war. Marina Papa Sokal's essay onthe legal structures that regulate the international trade inantiquities in the United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. is more detailed, describing how theAmerican legislation is tied to the various UNESCO UNESCO:see United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. UNESCOin full United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Conventions. Shemaintains in the end that the goal of any international legislativeeffort should not be to keep every archaeological artefact See artifact. in itscountry of origin but that the 'object is scientifically excavated,that its full context and history are recorded, and that the public andscholars have access to it' (p. 52). Renfrew's provocativepaper, which is largely based on his important book Loot, Legitimacy andOwnership published in 2000, focuses on the responsibility of museums,arguing that it is the museums that 'establish the ethos for theprivate collector' and that they are at the wrong end of theethical spectrum (p. 256). In the second group of essays, the authors consider looting and theantiquities trade in specific locales. Neil Brodie's unusual andfascinating essay ties together the relationship between London'santiquities market and Iraq's archaeological market. In otherwords Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"put differently , he brings together the supply (Iraq) and the demand (England).Most other studies on this topic have focused on one or the other.Brodie demonstrates how British and American antiquities dealers havelong objected to foreign patrimony PATRIMONY. Patrimony is sometimes understood to mean all kinds of property but its more limited signification, includes only such estate, as has descended in the same family and in a still more confined sense, it is only that which has descended or been devised in a direct line from the laws that assign ownership ofunexcavated antiquities to the state. Instead they favour common lawregimes that vest ownership in the landowner. The latter arrangement ismore conducive to the export of antiquities. Brodie is very critical ofhow British antiquities dealers have behaved relating to Iraqi artefactsand argues that they have disregarded their own ethical codes (p. 222). It is very difficult to put together a thematic volume that hassuch a wide spread as this one. Such collections run the risk of beingtoo diffuse and therefore of blunting their impact. But here the essaysin the collection, though they are of varying quality, combine into aconvincing argument; they argue that the current state of affairs is notmerely deplorable because of its illegal and surreptitious SURREPTITIOUS. That which is done in a fraudulent stealthy manner. nature, butalso that once antiquities are deprived of their contextual relations,they are forced to 'conform to Western conceptions of artisticproduction and consumption' (p. 1). This volume is a valuablecontribution to the field. As its own authors admit, this topic is verydifficult to analyse, given the secrecy of much of the activity underconsideration. However, they have provided a good basis for futurescholarship. Art and archaeology of Afghanistan The second volume under consideration is more concentratedgeographically and intellectually more focused. The theme of this bookcould be summed up in a photograph (Figure 64 in the book) that shows aninscribed stone in front of the National Museum in Kabul that states'A Nation Stays Alive When its Culture Stays Alive'. Thisimportant and impressive book, which is well illustrated, chroniclesthrough eighteen essays how the political and military struggles ofAfghanistan have had a negative impact on its archaeology and art. Thiscountry has been through such unthinkable strain over the past 30 years,and inevitably its visual culture has suffered. The contributors arenotable scholars from all around the world, in short the who's whowhen it comes to Afghanistan, each bringing to the table their diverseexperience of that country's art and archaeology. It is striking,however, that there are hardly any Afghan contributors to the volume andthe Afghani af��ghan��i?n. pl. af��ghan��isSee Table at currency.[Pashto afghn voice and perspective is sorely missing. This factor does not detract from the generally excellent essaysthat this scholarly book contains. After a short introduction by theeditor Juliette van Krieken-Pieters, the book is divided into fourparts. The first section describes the experience of protectingAfghanistan's cultural heritage; the second, which is veryvaluable, focuses on fieldwork, both recent and past; the third situatesthe Afghan case within an international context especially as itpertains to law; and the fourth seeks to gain from lessons learnt inAfghanistan that are applicable to other parts of the world. As could be expected, the bulk of the attention is on events of thelast seven years, and the Buddhas of Bamiyan in particular. These arethe subject of several essays including one by Kosaku Madea thatdescribes the mural painting on the Buddhas and an intriguingcontribution by Francesco Francioni and Federico Lenzerini that relatesthe Bamiyan Buddhas to international law. Taken as a whole, thebook's primary emphasis is on what lesson could be learned from theAfghan experience, especially how to preserve cultural heritage in awar-torn area. In this regard, Kurt Siehr advocates the establishment of'safe havens' (p. 334) for endangered cultural objects; thesesafe areas could be in the country of origin or abroad. He calls for thecooperation of national governments and international organisations towork together to coordinate this work. A gloomy prognosis? Both volumes offer sombre som��bre?adj. Chiefly BritishVariant of somber.sombreor US somberAdjective1. serious, sad, or gloomy: a sombre message2. assessments of cultural heritageprotection (or the lack thereof) and highlight in particular thedestruction that has taken place since 2001 in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thetone is of frustrated anger and desperation though there are occasionalglimmers of hope. But a sense of exasperated pessimism pervades bothvolumes. How is it that, at the beginning of the twenty-first century,the scholarly community, the international legal conventions, andscientific principles could be rendered so absolutely powerless toprevent this large-scale destruction of heritage? These two fine booksare searching for answers and should act as encouragement that moreneeds to be done to prevent even more damage in the years ahead. Magnus T. Bernhardsson, Department of History, Williams College,Williamson, MA 01267, USA (Email: mbernhar@williams.edu)