ABSTRACT
Trade in illicit antiquities is an established problem that has continued to increase internationally, with the movement of archaeological and heritage material viewed as commodities from ‘source’ countries (usually in the developing world) to ‘demand’ countries (usually in the developed world). This chapter highlights issues related to this trade. It introduces: legal contexts; ethical issues in terms of tracking the movement of material and its provenance; and different perspectives on ownership of cultural property, as set against academic concerns with the construction of knowledge and the breakdown between material and its original contexts when it is illicitly removed. Linked to the latter, it considers how in many source countries, archaeology and heritage material is seen in terms of capital and how in areas of poverty it is viewed as an economic resource—albeit a finite resource with illicit removal being an unsustainable activity that will lead to the extinction of archaeology. There are also issues here concerning who benefits from the market in terms of the appreciation of profits from the first transaction to the last. This chapter also covers issues related to shipwrecks, especially those not in territorial waters protected by law, and looting during wartime.
