Dead Chicken Antiquities Lobbyist Claims Blog Bias due to 'Gatekeeper Glitch', Only Allows Metal Detectorists Through

It's called "selective hearing, thinking and reporting".......

In a discussion with Peter Tompa, who expects to be spoon-fed information by ICOM rather than actually doing the footwork himself, Lynda Albertson‏ (@sauterne Feb 8) adds

I posted a reply to your article a few days back regarding ASOR's report on AIN Dara, my comment was censored.

Peter Tompa, pretending to be a 'Global Heritage Alliance' replies:

·  Global Her. All.‏ @global_her Feb 8 I have no idea what you are speaking about. Censored? The only person who has been blocked is Mr. Barford, and for good reason. In any event, the ICOM website and press release speaks in generalities only. I've made an offer to her which stands if ICOM would like to take it. 2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes

I think those who look at what I was posting before Mr Tompa decided that it would be easier to block me than answer the points I was raising about the nature of his 'Cultural Property Observations' might realise that the reason was that he had no answers.  CPO writing as GHA made ICOM an offer to publish in the ACCP newsletter. What an incestuous world the US antiquities trade lobby is! They are all basically the same gang of seven and a half. Anyway, it was all a misunderstanding with Lynda Albertson:

Global Her. All.‏ @global_her

Replying to @sauterne @fmdesmarais @Aurelius161180

If you read the comments to my blog, I've often published contrary views. Barford too for a long time until he got out of hand. Yes, it was a glitch. Feel free to comment.

Got out of hand means 'asked questions I really could not answer and exposed my bias'. That is what we called censorship in Poland, but hey, anything goes in Trump's America.

The post in question is here. No questions from Lynda Albertson have appeared, just trolling by two BFF metal detectorists:

Lynda Albertson‏ @sauterne 8 lut

W odpowiedzi do @global_her @fmdesmarais @Aurelius161180

CPO archaeological-lobby-silent ... Howland and I both commented on Jan 31. His is published, mine was omitted. Feb 1 comment of stoutstandards is there. For the record, I pointed out that ASOR was not silent on Ain Dara as your article implies and suggested looking for their damage report.

and for the record, I posted too a comment there pointing out that there are archaeologists in other countries than America (USA,USA, USA!) that have expressed their dismay at this news, but not posting my comment was by Mr Tompa's own admission no 'glitch' (it is called 'out of hand') but a deliberate decision to suppress information calling into question the picture that Mr Tompa irresponsibly paints into question. The non-appearance of a similar comment by Lynda Albertson would fall into the same pattern. Needless to say the two comments that were not censored by enthusiastic metal detecting claquers Stout and Howland support the Tomparian Fake News. This Lynda Albertson notes:

Lynda Albertson‏ @sauterne 8 lut

W odpowiedzi do @global_her @fmdesmarais @Aurelius161180

No, not interested in restating what I've already stated above for a 3rd time. I do find it amusing though that you call Monica Hanna out for bias, ASOR and AIA out for bias, ICOM and State out for bias, but when your alliance show bias, We're supposed to believe it's a web glitch.

Who would believe Peter Tompa after that?

In UK Scheme: Careless Handling of Portable Antiquities

Huge numbers of finds on the PAS database could have totally false findspots because the PAS uncritically accept what the finders tell them, and do not demand to see documentation of title, signed by the landowner when they accept items for recording. This leaves any FLO handling such material (or holding it in their office) with the responsibility of handling stolen material, and I really do not see why the PAS is so apparently oblivious to this danger.  This is especially the case when on many sides there are calls for the commerce in portable antiquities to be more transparent and accountable with documentation of provenances and collecting histories, yet the single Scheme responsible for liaising with members of the public and collectors cannot be bothered to set any kind of an example by applying it to their own handling of the material, in no way differing from that of the no-questions-asked antiquities trade.

The Things Collectors Collect: Skulls in the mail

More collectors trying to get their hands on human remains (AP, 'Skulls in the mail: Indonesia foils artifact smuggling'/ Heads up: Indonesia foils bizarre human skull smuggling attempt Friday, 09 February, 2018):

 Customs officials on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali say they've foiled an attempt to mail 24 elaborately decorated human skulls to the Netherlands. The Customs Department said Friday that cartons containing the skulls were intercepted on two separate dates in January. The skulls are believed to be culturally-significant artifacts from other parts of Indonesia. They were labeled as manufactured from synthetic materials but found to be human after being examined by experts from the Balinese Cultural Heritage Conservation Center. Customs official Ni Aniek said the skulls are probably from Papua and Kalimantan. No one has been arrested.

Artefact smuggling cannot be stopped without genuine international cooperation,

At an event on 29th January unveiling some recently repatriated smuggled items, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said that there is no way to prevent artefact smuggling without genuine cooperation between countries ('Artifact smuggling cannot be stopped without genuine international cooperation, Turkish minister says' Anadolu Agency January 30 2018).

“It is impossible to completely prevent historical artefact smuggling without the sincere cooperation of countries, just as it’s not possible to prevent the global dimension of terror without sincere cooperation in fighting terrorism,” Kurtulmuş said at a ceremony in the capital Ankara showcasing historical artefacts recently repatriated to Turkey. [...] He stressed the importance of protecting historical artefacts, boosting cooperation to preserve culture, and bringing artefacts trafficked internationally back to where they belong. Kurtulmuş said there were many works taken from Turkey that are still on display in museums in Britain, Germany, and the U.S., and that Turkey is striving to repatriate them. Turkey is waiting to bring back 55 more historical artefacts home, he added.

When of course you have obstructive antiquities trade lobbies opposed to any kind of international cooperation, things become difficult.

Global Heritage Org Representing 'Irresponsible' Stance? Surely Not.

Since the Global Heritage.org (the dead blue chicken logo one) has blocked me from seeing their tweets, I can only guess from the reply of France Desmarais, ICOM Director of Programmes, what typical Peter Tompa crap they were promoting about the recently-released Yemen Red List:

but twisting everything to suit the position of dealers and collectors seems to be just about all these narrow-minded folk can contribute to any discussion. Their aim is to be counterproductive, to protect their assumed 'right' to be irresponsible with the cultural heritage of others.

Carausius Coin with Silly 'First Brexiteer' Narrativisation

A Hampshire metal detectorist ('only in it fer th' 'istry') is profiting from the sale of an artefact found on a club dig on a Roman site (Andrew Ross, 'Metal detectorist finds coin minted by 'first Brexiteer'...' Daily Echo 5th February 2018). It is a denarius of Carausius 287-293 AD HAMP-2E6A12.'Itchen Stoke and Ovington'

Richard Patterson from West End has unearthed only the second ever recorded coin minted by “the first Brexiteer”. Rebel Emperor Carausius ruled Britain for seven years when he rejected Roman rule and appointed himself leader of an independent Britain. Now the silver coin, found in a field near Winchester, is expected to fetch thousands when it goes under the hammer this month. Mr Patterson was out with the Hampshire Detector Club in November when his detector gave off a loud beep. Just inches beneath the surface he found the silver coin [...] “We had found a few bits of lead and that usually means there has been some action (sic) there. 

Yes, it most likely means he was on an archaeological site. It took him several hours of concentration to work out what it was. It is really difficult, lots of big words written all over it . Blimey, difficult, innit? On the flat side with the head on it sez: 'IMPCARAVSIVSPFAVG. Eh? Impcaer Avsivs Pfaug'? Eh? No wonder Mr Patterson had problems, there was no emperor Impcar Avsiv, ever. Must be rare! luckily someone came to his aid: 'But the next day someone saw something like it in a magazine that had sold for £17,000'. So that gave him a boost... He says:

It took me about four hours of searching to work out what it was. There’s hardly any information on Carausius or the coin. “I realised that it was a silver coin but I did not have a clue about what it is and how much it might be worth. “I went into shock when I found out. [...] But Mr Patterson will have to split his haul with the land-owning farmer. [...] Mr Patterson said he will use the cash to pay for a new car exhaust.

How much it is worth? I thought that lot were into the history and not the cash. Hmm. What on earth is this artefact hunter on about when he says there is 'not much information on Carausius or the coin'? Nonsense. They are called 'books' and there's a few on the life and times of Carausius (and historians have been interested in him for a long time, for example 'The history of Carausius; or, An examination of what has been advanced on the subject by Genebrier and Stukely...', Richard Gough 1762 ). Here are some more. 

There are not a few catalogues of his coins - like for example the classic Roman Imperial Coinage where he'll find RIC 591 which is the coin he found (the PAS database also has one  BUC-7A7BF7  and this one WILT-0FA13F and this one  BM-B49CF4 (= this one on Timeline Auctions). There are four on Wildwinds. The PAS record is silent on how many of this type were in the Frome Hoard. Dead loss that is. I think it is hardly true to say that the metal detectorist had found one of the two coins known, even of this type. Fake News. More fake news:

Head of coins at Dix Noonan Webb, where the coin will go up for auction Christopher Webb said: “Carausius has been largely ignored by historians but he was a truly extraordinary man. “As well as being a rebel who briefly won independence from European rule, he was also a showman who held what were effectively Britain’s first Olympic Games and introduced African lions to an astonished British public.” 

The newspaper proclaims Caurausius to have been the 'first brexiteer', but that would be ignoring Clodius Albinus (196-197 AD). But the carausian coin evidence really suggests something else anyway - the ruler is represented as the legitimate emperor who had come  (Adventus) to replace the others (to whom he offers 'Pax') and the most common reverse type is not anything to do with an independent 'Britannia', but Romulus and Remus. This is just vacant coin dealer spin, trying to bump up interest in a poorly struck and ill-centred example of this coin. Here is another popular text along the same lines:  Christopher Woolf, 'Britain’s first ‘Brexit’: 286 A.D. It didn't last long' PRI's The World June 23, 2016.

Probable Fake Stela Found near Deir Al-Zour

Hot news from Syria:

On 17/1/2018, The Authority of Tourism and Protection of Antiquities received an antique sculpture from the Syrian Democratic Forces that was found in the field of Al Omer in Deir Al-Zour. The sculpture is in the form of an obelisk with dimensions of 145 × 95 and a thickness of 17 cm with decorations are mostly dated to the [New] Assyrian period, this obelisk incomplete and mutilated maybe during the illegal excavation by extremist groups.

Or maybe not so 'hot':

.Cultura Consulting‏ @Cultura_CP 3 godz.3 godziny temu3 godziny temuWięcejA stele carved in Assyrian style has been reportedly found near Deir Ezzour; my initial inclination is that it is a little more recent in date.

I agree with Cultura, I suspect this is a fake made for the market, not necessarily in the time of ISIL, it could be an earlier product that was captured by ISIL and rejected as saleable because not all middlemen are as gullible (or alternatively, impudent) as those that took some of the crap we have seen to Turkey.

 But here's the rub, virtually all of former ISIL territory has now been overrun by regime forces, and apart from one house in Mosul that had a courtyard full of pots and other stuff, there have been no 'portable antiquity caches' reported... What does that tell us?