Illinois Archaeological Site Looted

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Artefact hunters have damaged and looted an archaeological site of the Woodland and Mississippian cultures on farmland in southwestern Illinois. Large holes were dug with shovels into the excavated area in a hasty search for artefacts after the students had left the site after work on Friday. The thieves also broke into a locked equipment storage box and stole a $200 piece of surveying equipment. The damage was discovered on Monday morning, but heavy rain on Friday night erased any tracks the vandals may have left. The vandals caused so much damage that the team will have to begin the dig again.

Looter's hole in the middle of an excavation square

It is reported that the finds present on the site were of low monetary value, "there is nothing of commercial value here. You couldn't sell it," Gregory Vogel, an assistant professor with the archaeological field school at Southern Illinois University's Edwardsville campus, told the Belleville News-Democrat.

George Pawlaczyk, 'So much work, and it was gone': Vandals hit SIUE archaeology dig', Belleville News-Democrat, Jun. 14, 2011
Read more:

Chad Garrison, 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Vandals Destroy Archaeological Dig at Southern Illinois - Edwardsville', Riverfront Times, Jun. 15 2011

Of course this digging is only visible (and being written about) because it took place on a site currently being investigated. The holes dug by artefact hunters, looking for exactly the same types of artefacts on exactly the same type of rural site, don't make it to the press, but are no less deep and wide, no less damaging to the archaeological record. And this is going on all the time, in the daytime, in evenings at weekends, but nobody bats an eyelid. It is the collector's "right" to collect the pro-collecting advocates say. They claim the right to create this kind of devastation of archaeological sites wherever and whenever they take a fancy, sometimes keeping within the law (only on private land with permission), sometimes breaking the law. It makes no difference to them, neither does it make much difference to the people who buy the artefacts coming from such diggings.

The Problems with Illegally Transporting Ancient Coins

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I came across this 'Factoidz' article 'The Problems with Illegally Transporting Ancient Coins' by chance yesterday, while there is perhaps nothing much new here, and I would place the emphasis of some parts of it elsewhere, it is good to see the subject "out there" in the popular media. It is also nice to see colleague Nathan Elkins mentioned.

While many are happy to see displays and pictures of ancient coins, many people are bent on owning a collection of them. This leads to many looting from archeological sites and taking coins to sell on the black market. [...] By buying coins from black market sources, collectors are inadvertently hampering the study of the past according to most archeologists and de-valuing the coins as primary sources of history.

I would have mentioned that there is emerging evidence that it would also be supporting organized crime. Clicking on the source of the illustration brings the reader to Reid Goldsborough's well-known (or should be) text 'Looting, Smuggling, And Coins' which argues:

There should be a government-regulated free market of antiquities and coins in source countries around the Mediterranean, as there is in the United Kingdom.

Eh? What government regulation is there of the British antiquities market, surely some mistake! More misinformation about the PAS. has the existence of a government regulated free market of antiquities and coins put a stop to the looting of archaeological sites and illegal activity concerning artefacts in Israel?Goldsborough continues:

Governments would confiscate material shown to have been uncovered illegally at off-limits, bona fide archeological sites. The remainder of the material would enter the collector market, not secretly as happens today, with much knowledge of the past lost, but openly so the material could be fully studied. Governments of source countries would further benefit in the form of sales and export taxes just as with other goods sold or exported.

Well, isn't it the case that current laws confiscate confiscate material excavated illegally at off-limits archaeological sites? What is a "bone fide" archaeological site, who defines it and how (for the purposes of this market)? Also I fail to see how imposing a tax on antiquity exports is going to help cut down clandestine exportation. This can only work with some form of import control at the other end, as most collectors willingly buy antiquities on the open market without paying the slightest attention to the precise formalities of them leaving the source country.

So we come back to the same problem of the lack of responsibility of the collectors (the ubiquity of customers of the dodgy dealers) for providing the incentive for trading in licitly-obtained material. it is these collectors that are providing the motor for the looting and illegal export of material.

Goldsborough finishes with a flourish:

Saving Antiquities for Everyone is an advocacy organization that, despite its name, promotes the mainstream archeological position, which includes banning the private collecting of ancient coins and artifacts. Ancient Coin Collectors Guild is an advocacy organization that, despite its name, promotes the mainstream position of coin dealers, which includes the preservation of the right to sell and buy ancient coins. Neither organization is advocating the rationalization of laws in source countries and the furthering of knowledge this would lead to.

Firstly SAFE does not work for the "banning" of collecting, the mainstream position is that the market should be restricted to that which is licitly and sustainably obtained. Inasmuch as most of the antiquities market today seems to be quite the opposite (unsustainable and damaging) of the desired form, then it seems reasonable to oppose all elements within it which would tend to make that situation much worse as the market expands. But by all means let us work together to see a rationalisation of laws, we could start with the largest market country, the US rationalising its own laws not only as a receiver of antiquities, but a source of antiquities. Alongside legislative changes however we need to see a massive change in attitudes and a taking of responsibility by dealers and especially collectors to reduce the problems with illegally transporting illicitly obtained ancient coins.
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Shekels, Shekels, get yer Shekels Here!

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Utah tour guide John Lund acknowledges that in the course of his work leading a trip of US tourists to Israel earlier on this month, he

facilitated the $2,000 purchase of a silver Tyre shekel, also known as a Judas coin, for one of the tour participants.

Lund claims to be writing a book on "Biblical coins of interest to Christians" but seems not to know enough about these coins to be able to tell a tour party member to save his money because he can buy a decent example of that shekel back in the states for about a quarter of the price.

V-Coins search Results For: Shekel (or siglos or siklos or tetrashekel) (Tyre) Including a rather interesting number from Sayles and Lavender

The Temple Tax “30 Pieces of Silver” Shekel of Tyre
Prices around 400 - 500 dollars for a decent one. Half decent ones much cheaper.
No wonder some of his firm's clients were running out of money if he was failing to give them advice on the most effective way to shop. After all this gentleman is called a "Fun for Less Educator".

Vignette: a Coin Replicas, Inc. (Charles Doyle http://www.coinreplicas.com/), replica shekel, gentler on the pocket and the archaeological heritage than the real thing.

Coin Dealer in Trouble?

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Over on Moneta-L (cross posted to Unidroit-L) is a letter from a Spanish dealer in dugup coins who has a lot on his mind. The seller concerned seems to be D. Antonio Ramón Hinojosa Pareja (Lucerna on eBay) based in the city of Alcalá la Real, Jaén. He writes:

On december 1 I had one of the worse experiences in my life because police come into my home and office searching all the ancient coins I had. They remove all my stock and account balances, documents, pendrives with info and pictures, computers, all my work material. They say that I buy the coins from not legal sellers and suppliers and it is a lie. I always buy my coins from Ancient Auction Houses and I have my invoices and all the info available but they did not listened to me. I have in a judicial process and it is so large here in Spain, maybe it could take more than 2 years in the way and I´m inocent. I´m sure that they finally send me back all but the financial damage is incredible, more than 40.000 euros have been confiscated (coins, computers, material, all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and around 3.500 of my nice late roman coins for clean too. I´m always buying large lots of uncleaned roman coins from Ancient Coins Auction Houses in all Europe and this is my fault!!!!!!!!!!!!! HORRIBLE!! This is an stupid and crazy actuation againt me, maybe a formal complaint of an envious seller?? I do not what happened really but all my coins are blocked and confiscated and the sumary is secret yet. I think that with God help all must to be clare in the next months but I repeat, Justice here in Spain is slow as a tortle.

It is not clear why having merely the invoices from these "ancient coins auction houses" is felt sufficient guarantee the coins are of legal origin. Especially if we are talking about repeated purchases of "large lots of uncleaned Roman coins" (i.e., with the earth still on them). The point is that the due diligence of the ethical buyer needs more proof than they are on sale somewhere. If they are of Balkan origin, for example, the chances are that their origins are questionable.

Whatever the final outcome of this case, it would seem that the complaining dealer was caught up in the Spanish raids I covered last year see here and here and here See also David Gill's coverage here ("This story should alert any coin dealers who have been buying directly or indirectly from Spain"). It is interesting to see Moneta-L and Unidroit-L treating this like some kind of "breaking news", I predicted in December that the usual culprits would try and hush it up.

What is interesting is the topic name given it by the original Monetan-sender "Difficult times for Spanish Coin Dealer - Incredible". As if the coineys believe that buying and selling coins of unclear provenance they would always be beyond the reach of the law. In Spain a major antiquities investigation is taking place and this dealer, who has been buying uncleaned coins with the earth still on them in bulk, is apparently being asked to account for the origins of the material he is selling. If the market was more transparent, there would be no reason for his records being seized and investigated. In any case, as can be seen from his Internet shop, this dealer still continues to trade in ancient and medieval coins, despite the fact that he claims his bulk coins for cleaning are in police custody.

Coin dealer Dave Welsh crossposted this message to his Unidroit-L discussion list warning his predominantly US audience:

This is what would also be happening in the USA, if the AIA and its ideological allies in the State Department have their way.

Quite right too, if the bulk lots turn out to have been looted from archaeological sites somewhere. Why should US dealers get away with dealing in looted and smuggled dugup artefacts if that is what they are in fact doing? I am sure its not just the AIA, I believe that there are some decent people in the USA that would also like to see the no-questions-asked trade in illegally obtained freshly-surfaced ancient artefacts removed from the US market. If there are dodgy dealings going on, then they should be challenged. Why would the more respectable coin dealers of the USA have anything against getting the contaminating cowboy dealers and pirate buyers off the market?

Vignette: Alcalá la Real, Jaén.