Monday, 10 October 2011

SAFE on Action Cerberus

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SAFE Corner has an article today '"Operation CERBERUS Action": Neither overkill nor justice' referring to Operation CERBERUS Action, aimed at the illegal trafficking of Native American artefacts in the Four Corners area. It is argued that the outcome of the case is:
Neither overkill nor justice, we believe the outcome shows disrespect for the federal agents and informants who put themselves at risk to make the case, and to the public, which paid for the prosecution. Most disturbingly, the leniency sends the message that the law — in this case, Archaeological Resources Protection Act and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act — are unimportant or do not apply to the Four Corners region, and will encourage rather than deter looters. We suspect that the descendants of those whose burial grounds were desecrated and whose remains were destroyed by looters would agree.
I'd be interested to hear what US archaeologists have been saying about all this, or - like their English counterparts - have they also given up on fighting this kind of exploitation of the archaeological record?

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