tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post3153606095461198665..comments2024-03-27T04:46:33.198-07:00Comments on Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Artefacts Stash Found in Liberated East MosulPaul Barfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-42756442446366708822017-01-27T09:16:55.364-08:002017-01-27T09:16:55.364-08:00I think you are falling into the trap of the deale...I think you are falling into the trap of the dealers' lobbyists for whom, mercenary bustards that they are, the question of "how much?" is the only one they are interested ion. But I am thinking more in terms of a smoking gun that ISIL is actually connected with looting and sale of artefacts (because as you know i am sceptical of many of the American claims), and I do not care if they are buying a few boxes of bullets or a box of sharp knives to decapitate prisoners or an armed personnel carrier. That is not a question. What is, is whether militant groups are making money by selling artefacts to outside buyers, and if so - what we (we, the market and collectors) can do to curb those sales. And of course the first step towards that is stop collectors and dealers from just shrugging their shoulders and suggesting that if there is a problem at all (which they all deny), it's not theirs - the usual crap you get from these people. <br /><br />Also I cannot imagine that this one house is the only one in the district right next to an extensive site like Nineveh which, if it was not cleared in advance of the incursion of the soldiers, is going to produce this sort of material. <br /> Paul Barfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-87397762628671397442017-01-27T08:47:49.160-08:002017-01-27T08:47:49.160-08:00I agree with Dr Yates. Hardly the kind of stuff to...I agree with Dr Yates. Hardly the kind of stuff to be a major funding source to ISIS and provide them with the purported millions of dollars. As you say, these bits may be merely the detritus after the best bits have been creamed off but we have no proof of that - unless they are also listed in the "series of extensive official Islamic State documents inside the home". If they are not, this paltry lot falls far short of a substantial 'smoking gun'.<br />David Knellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com