1. Heartbreaking History
The Illicit Antiquities Trade

2. The Illicit Antiquities Trade Presented By: Tina M
The Illicit Antiquities Trade Presented By: Tina M. Covey PPSS 3200 Int’l Public Policy

3. Estimated range of illicit trade:
$150M - $2B
Geraldine Norman has estimated that the illicit trade in antiquities, world-wide, may be as much as $2 billion a year10; other estimates have ranged down to $150 million. As already pointed out, because the trade is clandestine, reliable data is hard to find.
Fighting illegal international trade in cultural artifacts

4. Illicit Antiquities Trade is 3rd in World Trade behind Drugs and Arms Trafficking/

5. The Actors Licit “Grey Market” Illicit
- Archaeologists Dealers Looters
- Curators Retailers Middlemen
- Excavators - Smugglers
- Wholesalers - Subsistence Auction Houses Diggers
- Collectors
Collectors, museums, auction houses create the demand. Looters, Excavators and Subsistence Diggers find the supply, hand it off to Smugglers, Middlemen, Retailers and Dealers who move it from the Source Nation through Intermediary Nations with relaxed enforcement, on to Market Nations into the hands of Collectors, Auction Houses. Museums and legitimate Archaeologists and Researchers are increasingly out of the loop of the illicit market due to strict documentation required of them now.
It’s estimated that 80-90% of antiquities that are sold through auction houses are from illicit sources.

6. Illicit Trade on a Global Scale
Market Nations vs Source Nations

7. Unprotected sights are most vulnerable

8. Thieves and treasure hunters take advantage of turmoil

9. Further fostered by market demand for priceless and rare antiquities
Illicit trade promotes and encourages looting of unprotected repositories
Further fostered by market demand for priceless and rare antiquities
The smuggling of stolen antiquities from Iraq’s rich cultural heritage is allegedly helping finance Iraqi extremist groups, according to the U.S. investigator who led the initial probe into the looting of Baghdad’s National Museum. Marine Reserve Col. Matthew Bogdanos claimed both Sunni insurgents such as Al Qaeda in Iraq and Shiite militias were receiving funding from trafficking.

10. Most Notable Antiquities Lootings in Modern History
1991: Multiple Locations in Iraq The First Gulf War
: Kabul Museum, Kabul, Afghanistan
April 9-10, 2003: National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq
28 January, 2011: Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt
16 February, 2012: Museum of the History of the Olympic Games, Olympia, Greece

11. Baghdad, Iraq April 9, 2003 $12 Billion Worth Lost
Fall of Iraqi Government Results in Widespread Looting
News of last week's looting of the Baghdad Museum has been greeted by international condemnation of US occupying forces for failing to secure Iraq's heritage sites, writes David Tresilian
$12 Billion Worth Lost

12. Lost History
Babylonian, Sumerian, Assyrian collections chronicling 7,000yrs of ancient Mesopotamian civilization.
Widespread looting in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities following Saddam's ouster in April 2003 depleted the

13. 2009: Baghdad Museum reopens with most of its greatest treasures Much was returned by citizens who took it to protect it from the looters
Restored Baghdad museum reopens with most of its greatest treasures

14. Cairo and other Egyptian museums also under attack
Details of looting of Cairo and other Egyptian museums
2011

15. Macedonian Police Seize Large Quantity of Stolen Antiquities
June 27, 2010 macedonian-police-seize-large-quantity-of-ill-gotten-antiquities
2010

16. West Bank Looting
Much of the funding of terrorist groups like Al Queda and Hezzbolah come from illicit antiquities trade, out of their own nations.

17. Antiquities trade, Turkey-Cyprus
Syrian Orthodox Bible

18. The J. Paul Getty Mu­se­um's icon­ic stat­ue of Aphrodite:
Returned to Sicilian town of Aidone, Italy
Became a symbol of American mu­se­ums' in­volve­ment in the illicit antiq­ui­ties trade. Marked an end to a con­tro­ver­sy that has wracked the mu­se­um world for the last decade.

19. International Policy on Illicit Antiquities Trade
10 Major International Conventions and Provisions: address illicit antiquities acquisition, possession, exportation, distribution, sale and purchase.

20. Gaps in International Antiquities Policy
Retroactivity
Enforcibility
Burden of Proof
Cross-State Cooperation/Agreement
Influence by Stakeholders
Insufficient Definitions

21. International NGO’s

22. Multimedia Exhibition about the Worldwide Illicit AntiquitiesTrade
Tour: Serbia, European Parliament, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus

23. Noteable Published Books on Illicit Antiquities and Art Trade

24. Additional Books on Illicit Antiquities and Art Trade

25. Blood Antiquities: In A Land Ruled by Militia, History Is For Sale

26. “The reason I stress the terrorism aspect is that for many people, if I talk about the importance of cultural heritage, that's just white noise to them. If that argument doesn't resonate, then telling them that they can fund terrorism will. But here's another reason to stress, and that is that most of the pieces that were looted in Iraq pre-date Islam, pre-date the split between Sunni and Shia Muslims, pre-date Christianity, pre-date even Judaism. They are a potent reminder that our cultures have more in common with each other than the daily bloody headlines would suggest. Our disparate cultures have a common, fundamental root, and these objects recall that.” New York assistant district attorney and U.S. Marine Reserve Colonel Matthew Bogdanos
Looting and the Antiquities Market

27. Questions?