El Gran Robo de Cultura: Coleccionistas sin escrúpulos

El Gran Robo de Cultura: According to INTERPOL, the illicit traffic of cultural property is the clandestine business which produces less profit than only the trade in drugs, arms and people. UNESCO notes that archaeological sites in Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador are the countries more affected by the artefact robbery and that the majority of pieces go to American dealers who sell them to US collectors who are not at all concerned to differentiate illicitly obtained artefacts from those on the market by legal channels. The looting in the "source country" is done by locals willing to profit from the sale of the proceeds to dealers willing to handle such material, although there are also professional hunters. The handling of the international movement of these items however often involves criminal organizations able to move contraband across international borders. In addition to the American market, many pieces are ending up in the hands of collectors in the EU, where the exotic objects are coveted for their good state of conservation and beauty. (Unesco precisa que también en Europa se ha puesto de moda la compra de objetos prehispánicos por parte de coleccionistas sin escrúpulos.) Among the many thousand reported looted pieces known to INTERPOL worldwide, 294 are Mexican, 173 Ecuadorian and 56 Guatemalan. Obviously however much of this trade is totally underground, items are illegally taken from the sites clandestinely, sold to middlemen in secret, taken out of the country illicitly and sold to collectors no-questions-asked.

Let us recall the dealers who support the so-called "rights" of US collectors to buy dug-up antiquities no-questions-asked state things like: "No one has ever advanced scientifically valid evidence demonstrating that private collecting of antiquities actually causes looting". Private collectors who indiscriminately buy looted stuff from sellers who indiscriminately sell anything that comes into their hands clearly are the means by which criminal activities such as the looting of archaeological sites and their illegal export are directly financed. How can it be seen any other way? The fact that international antiquity dealers are so eager to deflect attention from the issues seems to me evidence enough that they are well aware of what they are doing and are just playing for time. The time to adopt new ethical standards for the legitimate international trade in antiquities and abandon no-questions-asked dealing is now.

UPDATE: For a collector's view, see "Pieces of the Past" Scientific Proof replying to the recalcitrant dealer on the same point.