"Nazi War" Battlefield Diggers with Exceptionally Low IQ

A look at any of their forums reveals pretty conclusively that metal detectorists tend not to come from the part of society capable of analytical thought. I guess you have to be rather seriously thick to do what some of them do. Here's a couple of bright sparks from Poland. Ojciec i syn kolekcjonowali niewybuchy. Nie odstraszyły ich eksplozja i wyrwane palce [Father and son collecting unexploded ordnance. They were not deterred by an explosion and lost fingers]. Beep-beep [BOOM], Duh.

Archaeological Establishment Looks the Other Way

Heritage Action's Farmer Brown has a legitimate gripe about artefact hunters and the search-and-take agreements they con landowners into signing:

These contracts are a scandal in plain sight with profound consequences for  farmers, who can seriously deny it? So it would be nice if The Archaeological Establishment stopped looking the other way.

It'd be nice if the UK archaeological establishment did anything at all, but all they do is post pretty "Finds Friday" pictures of privately-owned decontextualised objects ripped out of their site context and call it "archaeological outreach".

"Finds Friday" on Saturday It's St Joseph's day, Yay!

dugup object

Here are the silly PAS at it again, today, March 19th as we all know is St Joseph of Nazareth's Day. So here is a dugup St Joseph medallion to look at, Yay! See it? See all the likkle people on it? Luvverly patina too!

and here's a rock which looks like St Joseph from the geologists

Meanwhile, others make a far less shallow correlation than the PAS "wotta lotta fine stuff" show-and-tell:

Flight into Egypt for StJoseph's day, in a week when many Middle Eastern fathers and  families are in search of safety

Friday retrospect: Private 'Curation' of Archaeological Artefacts

In a post on Friday, 19 June 2009 ('Do not wash, dry clean only') I discuss a memorable example of the problem of putting archaeological material in the hands of people ill equipped to look after it. The prime example of this was a collector who bough an "Old Babylonian Period pottery administrative ledger tablet Circa 1900 - 1000 BC" on V-Coins. "After admiring their purchase, the delighted collector then did something… well, not to put a fine point on it, utterly stupid":

after the pleasure of touch and see it in my hand as I made very often with terracotta objects I wet it with light water spray to see restoration, to taste smell.. etc, after seeing that same sand seem to go out from the break lines I put for 4-5 seconds the tablet under powerful (but however middle) flow of water...but instead cleaning the table that seems had skin literally melt down
under my eyes.

Yes, clay tends to do that in water.

Asia Week Bust-Fest, Fifth Dealer is Involved

US authorities are being coy for the moment about  a fifth  raid on a dealer associated with Asia Week. There will be fuller coverage on the Chasing Aphrodite blog.  The numbers supplied by Manhattan DA's office for the Asia Week seizures go like this:

2 on 11th March  @ Christie's

1 on 14th March (not stated where) [Update: see here]
1 on or before 15th March (seized at port in transit)
1 on 16th March  @ Dalton Somare Gallery
3 on 17th March @ Nancy Wiener Gallery

All Six of Syria's UNESCO WHL Sites Damaged During Civil War

The UN estimates a quarter of a million Syrian people have died in the five years of conflict the country has faced. Among the human tragedies, the landscape and cultural heritage of the country have also suffered badly. The country once had six Unesco World Heritage Sites, all of which are now either destroyed or severely damaged, according to Unesco, the United Nations body responsible for identifying significant cultural landmarks. [...] since 2011, the conflict has cost Syria $275 billion in loss of growth, which is 150 times more than Syria’s budget before [...] fighting began in 2011.

Emma Henderson, 'Syria's six Unesco World Heritage Sites all damaged or destroyed during civil war' Independent Wednesday 16 March 2016

In Asia Week, Another Bust

This is beginning to look like an organized campaign another Manhattan dealer has objects seized as part of 'Operation Hidden Idol' (Jason Felch, 'Busted: Asia Week Raids Reveals Scope of Illicit Trade in Asian Art' Chasing Aphrodite March 17, 2016):

Federal agents raided the Nancy Wiener Gallery on Thursday, the latest move in an aggressive crack down on the trade in ancient Asian art that has targeted several leading dealers and auction houses and shaken up New York’s Asia Week art show. Federal agents were given a court order to seize a Kushan relief valued at $100,000, a limestone sculpture of Shiva and Parvati valued at $35,000, and a 10th Century bronze Buddha valued at $850,000, in addition to documents and business records related to the objects, court records show.

From all this activity, you'd think Kapoor was the only source of dodgy antiquities on the US market. Or is he the one who has become the easiest to use for publicity-points with others getting off scot-free?

UPDATE 
More details here in NYT 

Vignette: Potential clients noting collecting history?