ABSTRACT
In the global marketplace for cultural property there are illegal elements at every stage. Individuals clandestinely pillage archaeological sites. The artefacts then move through a series of both legal and illegal conduits to arrive at a salesroom or auction house for sale to private collectors or museums that turn a blind eye to the question of provenance (archaeological fi ndspot). Investigating this movement of artefacts formed the focus of my PhD research (Kersel 2006). This research is both multi-sited and multi-vocal and the ethnographic enquiry had to refl ect those realities. In this chapter the methods of investigation will be illustrated through a series of data-collection techniques employed while conducting fi eld research in Israel and the Palestinian Authority (hereafter the PA). Through trial and error during interviews with looters, dealers, collectors, government employees, archaeologists and academics, a methodology was employed to explore the effi cacy of legally sanctioned antiquities markets in combating the illegal excavation of archaeological sites and the resulting illicit trade in antiquities.
