The present conflict in Syria and northern Iraq has brought the issue of antiquities to the attention of the international media. This is due, first, to the scale of the recent looting revealed by remote sensing, second, to the possibility that archaeological objects were being used to fund the conflict, and third, to the deliberate destruction of key monuments and museum objects in what can only be described as acts of "cultural barbarism". At the same time there are more pressing concerns about the plight of refugees from the conflict zones, and the deliberate targeting of religious minorities.
Looting is not a new phenomenon to Syria. And there have been instances in recent years of objects linked to that region turning up on the antiquities market. In April 2009 six Roman limestone busts surfaced on the London market at Bonhams (April 29, 2009, lots 48-53). ...
David Gill is Professor of Archaeological Heritage and Head
of the Division of Humanities at University Campus Suffolk.
He was a Rome Scholar at the British School of rome and a Sir
James Knott Fellow at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
He was subsequently part of the Department of Antiquities
at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, and
Reader in Mediterranean Archaeology at Swansea University,
Wales, UK. He has published widely on archaeological ethics
with Christopher Chippindale. He has recently completed a
history of British archaeological work in Greece prior to the
First World War.
Here's a link to ARCA's website about access to The Journal of Art Crime.
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