Are the Internet and GPS Technology Archaeology's Worst Enemies?
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- Bob Forsyth, a retired private investigator living in Las Vegas, takes his Jeep into the high-desert backcountry once or twice a week, searching for the elusive artwork of prehistoric American Indians. With a global positioning system receiver (GPS) mounted on his dashboard and plugged into the laptop computer by his side, Forsyth enters the no-man's land surrounding the Vegas glitz. "I think of the people that were there, where you are, 1,000 years ago. You're walking in their footsteps," he said. The question is: With exact GPS coordinates displayed across the Internet, are too many people now walking in those footsteps? Most of the ancient artwork carved and painted into the rock walls and boulders of the American West have survived for thousands of years in quiet obscurity. But technology has changed that. These days, art that once took years for a person to stumble upon can be quickly pinpointed with a GPS, and discoverers can post the coordinates on the Internet. That leaves the ancient, priceless art vulnerable to what the Bureau of Land Management calls "digital vandalism." "It certainly has changed how we think about our jobs. There's a breathless feeling that the public is ahead of us now," said Dale Davidson, a BLM archaeologist based in Monticello, Utah. A quick peek at the Internet auction site eBay confirms the ancient art is being plundered and sold piecemeal, said Kevin Jones, Utah's state archaeologist. It's not just the treasure hunters who concern the rock-art aficionados. Some of the sites simply can't withstand public adoration. The use of GPS "hasn't changed the nature, but the scale" of those who are finding the sites, Jones said. Indians occupied the slickrock desert country of the Southwest for at least 10,000 years. Much about them and their lives is a mystery to archeologists. What is known about them is gleaned, in large part, from the pictures etched on the rocks: hunting scenes, handprints, ceremonies, even the arrival of pioneers. There are "huge concentrations" of ancient rock art in Utah, Jones said. He estimated that, throughout the West, there are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of rock-art sites. When Forsyth, the Las Vegas adventurer, finds the treasure he seeks, he writes down the GPS coordinates and takes a digital photograph. Within hours, the photos -- and sometimes the GPS coordinates -- are added to his personal Web site, http://www. forsythlv.com/. Forsyth wants to bring a glimpse of ancient cultures to the public. But he often withholds directions to sensitive artwork. The photos on his Web site of graffiti-covered rock art show why. "This is the reason that the BLM and private organizations are either restricting access or being very secretive about the locations of petroglyph sites," he said on his Web site. "Second, this is the reason why I am trying to locate and photograph all the sites that I can. I want to see them before vandals have completely ruined them." Even the selective access afforded by GPS on Forsyth's Web site doesn't sit well with others who are known for their secrecy about their favorite sites. "We share coordinates between close, personal friends, but not with strangers," explained Nina Bowen, vice president and archivist for the Utah Rock Art Research Association. "We are so anti-telling people about sites that we don't even have a file on these sites. We're purposely very vague about (locations). It's our passion, and we have seen so much vandalism in the past five years." That's when handheld GPS units began being sold in sporting goods stores, Jones said. Sometimes, by the time archaeologists can get to a previously unknown site posted on the Web, it's already been damaged and information has been lost. "Not only are we playing catch-up, but we're trying to record something that's already been impacted," Davidson said. There is a lot of talk about how to deal with this clash between archaeology and technology, but no answers. "We all stand around, kinda scratching our head about it," Davidson said. "It takes all sides to come to a conclusion here. It took a lot of time for this to get to be an issue, and it will take some time to figure out how to deal with it."
http://www.sltrib.com/
Stink Bomb Protest at Art Auction
PARIS (Reuters) - Protesters let off stink bombs and hurled fake euro bills as they vented their opposition to a Paris auction of artworks seen as touchstones of Surrealism.
The handful off protesters drowned out the auctioneer's voice Monday as a crowd of more than 400 packed the Drouot auction house when the first of 5,500 items collected by the late Surrealist poet Andre Breton went under the hammer.
"You are murdering the poet," a protester shouted, reflecting widespread anger in France's art community that the collection was being sold instead of being saved for the nation.
As bidding began, the protesters flung imitation 10 euro bills into the crowd. The smell of stink bombs spread through the room as the auction was held up.
Madonna and Bill Gates are reported to be among those interested in an auction that is like a roll-call of modern art, including works by Rene Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Salvador Dali, Jean Arp and Marcel Duchamp.
Auctioneers CalmelsCohen expect the collection, which Breton put together in his tiny Montmartre studio, to fetch more than $30 million.
INTERNATIONAL CODE OF ETHICS FOR DEALERS IN CULTURAL PROPERTY at UNESCO
Members of the trade in cultural property recognize the key role that trade has traditionally played in the dissemination of culture and in the distribution to museums and private collectors of foreign cultural property for the education and inspiration of all peoples. They acknowledge the world wide concern over the traffic in stolen, illegally alienated, clandestinely excavated and illegally exported cultural property and accept as binding the following principles of professional practice intended to distinguish cultural property being illicitly traded from that in licit trade and they will seek to eliminate the former from their professional activities.
ARTICLE 1 Professional traders in cultural property will not import, export or transfer the ownership of this property when they have reasonable cause to believe it has been stolen, illegally alienated, clandestinely excavated or illegally exported.
ARTICLE 2 A trader who is acting as agent for the seller is not deemed to guarantee title to the property, provided that he makes known to the buyer the full name and address of the seller. A trader who is himself the seller is deemed to guarantee to the buyer the title to the goods. ARTICLE 3 A trader who has reasonable cause to believe that an object has been the product of a clandestine excavation, or has been acquired illegally or dishonestly from an official excavation site or monument will not assist in any further transaction with that object, except with the agreement of the country where the site or monument exists. A trader who is in possession of the object, where that country seeks its return within a reasonable period of time, will take all legally permissible steps to co-operate in the return of that object to the country of origin.
ARTICLE 4 A trader who has reasonable cause to believe that an item of cultural property has been illegally exported will not assist in any further transaction with that item, except with the agreement of the country of export. A trader who is in possession of the item, where the country of export seeks its return within a reasonable period of time, will take all legally permissible steps to co-operate in the return of that object to the country of export. ARTICLE 5 Traders in cultural property will not exhibit, describe, attribute, appraise or retain any item of cultural property with the intention of promoting or failing to prevent its illicit transfer or export. Traders will not refer the seller or other person offering the item to those who may perform such services.
ARTICLE 6 Traders in cultural property will not dismember or sell separately parts of one complete item of cultural property.
ARTICLE 7 Traders in cultural property undertake to the best of their ability to keep together items of cultural heritage that were originally meant to be kept together.
ARTICLE 8 Violations of this Code of Ethics will be rigorously investigated by (a body to be nominated by participating dealers). A person aggrieved by the failure of a trader to adhere to the principles of this Code of Ethics may lay a complaint before that body, which shall investigate that complaint before that body, which shall investigate that complaint. Results of the complaint and the principles applied will be made public.
Adopted by the UNESCO intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation at its Tenth Session, January 1999 and endorsed by the 30th General Conference of UNESCO, November 1999.
Last update 18/04/2001
More : http://www.unesco.org/culture/legalprotection/committee/html_eng/ethics1.shtml
International Code of Ethics for Dealers in Cultural Property Why a Code? History of the Code Contents of the Code Advantages of the Code International law on the illicit trade Other action on illicit trade
The costly destruction of rich history, culture
By Andrea Miller April 07, 2003
It's been said that war is the only way to teach Americans geography. And maybe this time around, they'll learn even more -- after all, the U.S. is bombing the cradle of civilization. Not everyone may realize that the core of what was once ancient Mesopotamia is now the modern-day state of Iraq.
"Iraq is a country with a long and very rich history," says Richard Zettler, professor of anthropology and associate curator at the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
And to a striking extent, the history of Iraq belongs to all of human civilization. It is the birthplace of writing, the site of Ur -- homeland of the biblical Abraham -- and home to great Islamic dynasties.
The list is endless, but the tangible remains are not. And with the second Gulf War now in full swing, while humanitarian concerns come first, archaeologists and art historians are also concerned for the safety of Iraq's historical monuments and sites -- the last remnants of the region's abundant, once flourishing ancient cultures.
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The entire country of Iraq is an archaeological gold mine.
"There are just thousands of archaeological sites," Zettler says.
"There are a lot of answers there just sitting and waiting for someone to find," says Erika Tapp, a second-year art history graduate student.
"The thing about archaeology is that you can't recover it once it's gone," says Stephennie Mulder, also a second-year art history graduate student. "All of that depends on stratographic relationships that are completely destroyed."
Mulder is referring to the importance of context in an archaeological find. The location of an object relative to others often provides archaeologists with important clues.
For instance, ruin mounds -- rife with historical significance -- are subject to use by the military since they are often the only high ground available.
Zettler, however, is relatively optimistic given the situation.
"Even if you were to hit one of these ruin mounds with a bomb -- yeah, you'll put a crater in it," he says. "But these are big sites, so I think... short of a nuclear explosion, the amount of damage would be relatively minimal."
Conflict, however, is not the only cause of damage to archaeological sites.
"Farmers in this area use the soil from archaeological sites as fertilizer for their fields," Zettler says. "The simple fact is that the archaeological sites are being destroyed by all kinds of human activities all the time."
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Archaeological sites are one thing. Standing monuments are quite another.
"These monuments have lasted all this time because of their special nature -- they were wonders of the world when they were built," says Renata Holod, art history professor and curator at the University Museum.
The huge vaulted arch of Ctesiphon is all that remains standing of the famed Sassanian Palace -- yet, it too remains in grave danger after suffering cracks during the first Gulf War.
Another site of particular interest is the great palace city of Samarra, 21 kilometers outside of Baghdad. All that remains is the so-called "minaret of Samarra."
"These are feats of engineering construction imagination," Holod says. "It would be tragic if they were destroyed."
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Monuments are not only important as historical records. They also play a significant role in cultural identity.
"To come in contact with things that you know have been touched and used and seen by people that are otherwise completely foreign to you, it's really incredibly powerful," says College junior Meredith Gamer, who has just finished researching iconoclasm.
"Monuments play a key role in rebuilding people's identity after a conflict is over, and that's really the main reason why they're important to preserve," Mulder says.
The loss of a site is especially poignant to some when it has religious significance.
Take Karbalah and Najaf, two cities southwest of Baghdad, which are two of the holiest sites in the world for Shiite Muslims.
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But the gravest problems may be yet to come.
In the aftermath of the first Gulf War, Iraq's thousands of archaeological sites and prestigious museums were ransacked and looted.
Some of the stolen items can be found today on eBay. Others found their way onto the black market.
"The Iraqi museum holds at least half, if not more, than that of everything that's been excavated in Iraq since Iraq was founded," Zettler says. "If the artifacts and the field records are lost, then everything is gone."
Often desperate for sources of income during the tough times of economic sanction, Iraqis loot sites and museums in order to feed their families.
Still, cultural organizations have issued various petitions and continue to make valiant efforts to ensure that damage to historic sites and subsequent looting are prevented. They also briefed the U.S. military before the armed conflict began and provided them with a list of the coordinates of invaluable sites. "I hope that after the humanitarian aid, there will be some other type of aid, archaeological aid," says Tarek Kahlaoui, a second-year graduate student in art history from Tunisia. He hopes to be on the first plane over.
Mulder, Tapp and Kahlaoui have been spearheading an effort to bring awareness of these issues to the Penn community. At the behest of Jackie Tileston, a professor of fine arts, the trio has assembled a slide show detailing the Iraqi sites in danger. The exhibit will open this afternoon in the lobby of Meyerson Hall.
"Obviously, putting up slides isn't really going to stop or change anything," Mulder says. "But I think your average person doesn't really know about the value of this area.... We hope that we can at least begin to educate people to open their eyes a little bit."
http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/
Laundering Drug Money With Art
Martha Lufkin for The Art Newspaper
A Connecticut art broker is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty to involvement in a money-laundering scheme intended to exchange illegal drug proceeds for art. Two New York art dealers charged in the case have not been scheduled for trial.
The federal indictment charges Shirley D. Sack, 74, and Arnold K. Katzen, 63, with conspiring and attempting to sell two paintings for $4.1 million in cash to an undercover agent posing as a drug dealer.
According to the defendants, the paintings in question are Amedeo Modigliani's "Jeune femme aux yeux bleus," valued at around $2.5 million, and a pastel by Edgar Degas, "La Coiffure," valued at around $1.6 million. These were seized by the U.S.
"Katzen and Sack indicated to the undercover agent that they could resell the paintings overseas as part of the money-laundering scheme," said the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Michael J. Sullivan. The undercover sting investigation, apparently prompted by an informant's tip, was conducted by the U.S. Customs Service and the FBI.
The U.S. alleged that the Connecticut art broker, Alan M. Stewart, who pleaded guilty in December 2001, acted in the money-laundering transaction. The defendants face maximum sentences of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fines.
Under U.S. law, it is a crime to conduct a financial transaction involving the proceeds or represented proceeds of an illegal activity with intent to conceal the nature and source of the illegal proceeds.
The indictment says that Sack and Katzen promoted themselves as fine art dealers who were "capable of selling various works of art to be paid for in cash, as a way to launder money earned through illegal drug trafficking. The pair "offered to resell overseas any works of art first sold by them," the indictment says. One of the acts alleged as part of the conspiracy was the purchase of a cash-counting machine to sort out any counterfeit bills from the millions the pair expected to receive, the indictment says. The conspiracy took place in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, the U.S. says.
The allegations were supported by an affidavit of a U.S. Customs agent, which states that he had received information about Sack.
According to the affidavit, Sack, seeking a buyer for a $12 million painting supposedly by Raphael, stated that she did not care "if the money was drug money, Russian organized crime money or mafia money; she just needed a buyer," and gave the name of Alan M. Stewart as her agent.
In March 2001 in Boston, meeting with an undercover agent posing as a drug dealer who showed interest in buying the putative Raphael, Stewart said he could move cash, exchange cash for gems in addition to art, and handle the resale of the Raphael, the agent's affidavit says. Eventually, the deal shifted to the Modigliani and Degas, the affidavit says, and Stewart fell out of the transaction. Meeting with the undercover agent in May 2001, Katzen suggested exporting the Modigliani and Degas out of the U.S. for resale, which could take "six months to one year," the indictment says. Katzen proposed to the agent that they build up an inventory in Europe to be marketed "creatively" and that they establish a long-term relationship in moving "large amounts," the indictment says. To assure the would-be buyer, documents were sent to establish authenticity, the indictment says.
The dealers met the undercover agent at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston, where they had stored the paintings, and confirmed that the bill of sale was made out to a "straw" company, Universal Investments.
The curtain closed at the Boston Seaport Hotel, where in the final scenes of the crime, according to the indictment, Sack and Katzen "unwrapped and displayed for the undercover agent the Modigliani and the Degas," and put the money-counting machine to work, counting $300,000 in cash.
At that point, apparently federal agents arrested the dealers and seized the paintings.
Sack discussed transferring the proceeds from the resale to an offshore account, the agent's affidavit says, and the dealers explained that the buyer would see a net loss in funds. When the undercover agent mentioned normally paying "10% to 15%" to launder money, Katzen said the works could easily be sold at a 10% discount, the affidavit says. Katzen said he would move the money very, very slowly, the affidavit says, and told the agent he had a client in Europe who was ready to buy the Modigliani "under these circumstances."
The Saudi Prince, The "Goya" And The "Foujita"
Four people, including a Saudi prince, were recently indicted on narcotics charges in Miami. The indictment cites one of the defendants with money laundering and seeks forfeiture of two works of art in connection with the deal. The oil paintings, seized by the U.S. in New York, are "Bandits attacking a coach" attributed to Francisco de Goya and "Buste de jeune" attributed to Tsuguharu Foujita. Both works are also known by other titles. The indictment charges one José Maria Clemente with financial transactions designed to conceal the source of illegal drug proceeds. At a hearing in Miami in July 2002 on whether another of the defendants, Doris Salazar, should be freed on bail, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Arango gave a glimpse of the government's case.
She alleged that in 1999 a drug transaction took place in which two kilos of cocaine were flown from Caracas, Venezuela, to Paris on a private jet owned by Nayef Al-Shaalan. He is believed to be "a Saudi Arabian prince who is not in direct line for the throne" and who was also Salazar's lover and owner of Cannes Bank in Switzerland, Arango said.
The deal was to yield about $20 million in cocaine proceeds as Al-Shaalan's 50% share, Arango said. She described Clemente as a Spaniard and banker in Switzerland who was the drug group's "European money launderer" who had been "organizing their drug money and laundering it through banks in Europe and Switzerland."
The drug deal was planned on a trip organized by Prince Al-Shaalan to an encampment in the Saudi desert, featuring tents, Humvees [all-terrain vehicles], and "horses and camels," Arango said.
In Paris, the cocaine was taken to "a nice villa in the suburbs of Paris," Arango said. A seizure of 190 kilos of cocaine off the Spanish border led authorities to the stash in France, she said.
Arango said that two cooperating witnesses were "very involved in," and that Prince Al-Shaalan and Clemente knew "a lot" about, "the art world," saying that "some of their investments were made in art." As a result of a money-laundering debt, the "two paintings arrived in Miami" to repay a drug debt, she said.
The paintings were sent "in respect to a money-laundering transaction," which was "related to this drug deal," she clarified, adding that "it was the money-laundering debt that Clemente was repaying." The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration believes that oil paintings are "a way in which drug dealers launder money. It is an investment for their drug transaction proceeds," she said.
Telling the court that Salazar might flee if allowed out on bail, Arango said that Salazar had various different passports and a number of original oil paintings at her house. But at a later detention hearing on August 7, Arango said that the oil paintings had been examined and were found to be worthless reproductions.
Of the four defendants, Salazar is in federal custody in Miami; Clemente was arrested in Spain in mid-December and is awaiting extradition, either to Switzerland or the U.S.; Ivan Lopez Vanegas was arrested in early February in Columbia and is awaiting extradition to the U.S., while Prince Al-Shaalan has not been arrested.
http://www.forbes.com/
Burrell Collection painting ruled part of Nazis' stolen art treasures
PHIL MILLER ONE of Scotland's most renowned art collections has admitted one of its paintings had been effectively looted by the Nazis in the 1930s and has agreed two Jewish families have a "moral case" for its return or financial compensation.
The still life painting, Le Paté de Jambon and attributed to Jean Chardin, is in the Burrell Collection. Glasgow City Council is to ask the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in London to help pay "reparation". A committee of the council, dedicated to considering the repatriation of stolen art works, has judged in a new report that two unnamed German families have firmly established a case for recompense.
This amount could be £100,000 if proved to be by the French painter, although experts judge the painting was by one of his followers and may be worth only £20,000. Sir William Burrell, Scottish shipowner and art collector, bought the painting in June 1936 from the German art dealer, Julius Bohler, for £647.14s.
However, an investigation by the city council and new evidence from the families involved clearly show the painting fell into Bohler's hands because of financial persecution of the families by the Nazi regime.
Such cases are regarded as "forced transactions", in which the families have a clear right to the painting, or at least financial compensation.
The city, which does not want to lose the painting, is expected to pay compensation. It is "reluctant to jeopardise the integrity of the collection by returning part of it". The report compiled by the Repatriation of Artifacts Working Group reveals the families are the heirs of an art house and gallery in Munich.
In 1935, the gallery was handed a huge tax demand despite a loss that year, and were forced to sell paintings. A clearance sale took place in Berlin, and included the still life, attributed to Chardin, which was sold for £560.
Bailie John Lynch, the chair of the repatriation working group, said: "I must point out that there is no evidence whatsoever that Sir William knew of the circumstances of the Berlin auction that led to his acquiring Le Paté de Jambon."
The request concerning Le Paté de Jambon is the only one that the council has received since publishing in May 2001 a list of 232 works of art whose provenance or background could not be fully accounted for between 1933-45.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/
Police seek missing statue of icon
By Gary Klien, IJ reporter
San Rafael police are hoping to win one for the Nipper.
Nipper, an 88-year-old statue of the famous RCA dog listening to a phonograph, has been stolen from the old San Rafael Improvement Club at Fifth Avenue and H Street.
The 3-foot-tall statue, like the building that became the Improvement Club, was brought to San Rafael from the 1915 Pan-Pacific Expo in San Francisco. The statue was part of the Victrola pavilion at the Expo, police said.
The San Rafael Improvement Club, which has been undergoing years of costly renovation, has been put up for sale by the Rotary Club of San Rafael, so it donated the dog and other relics to the Marin History Museum in San Rafael, police Capt. Tom Boyd said.
But when museum officials went to pick up the goods two weeks ago, no one could find the dog. The museum told police the theft could have occurred any time in the last four months.
"It'd be wonderful if we could get it back," Boyd said. "It's a bit of history."
Its value is unknown, but estimates range from $1,000 to about $5,000. San Rafael police have already alerted local pawnshops and antiques stores about the purloined statue.
The museum, formerly the San Rafael Historical Society, is offering an unspecified reward for its return.
"We're confident that Nipper will be returned to the museum, since it's such an identifiable American icon," office manager Lynn Skillings said in a statement. "It's an unfortunate circumstance that we hope will be resolved shortly."
The statue is made of ceramic or plaster of Paris. The dog, which is painted white, except for brownish black ears and a black nose, has its head tilted toward the phonograph, as if listening to the voice.
Anyone with information can call San Rafael police at 485-3000 or the museum at 454-8538.
Anonymous tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers of Marin at 472-2746 for a possible reward.
Contact Gary Klien via e-mail at gklien@marinij.com
Greece Repeats Demand for Return of 'Elgin Marbles'
Jenny Badner New York 08 Apr 2003, 12:42 UTC
Listen to Jenny Badner's report (RealAudio) http://www.voanews.com/mediastore/badner_parthenon.ram Badner report - Download 627k (RealAudio) http://www.voanews.com/mediastore/badner_parthenon.rm AP Athens is once again demanding that the British Museum return the legendary Elgin Marbles to the Acropolis before the 2004 Athens summer Olympics.
Two hundred years ago, British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin, obtained the figures depicting an Athenian procession, with permission of the Ottomans, who then occupied Greece. The figures were then sold to the British Museum in London.
The Greek government has been lobbying for their return for more than two decades.
Now, the Onassis Center for Hellenic Art and Culture in New York is adding its voice to the debate, calling for the British Museum to return the ancient statues, which had been dismantled from a 146 meter section of the Parthenon frieze.
Greece's former Ambassador to the United States, Loucas Tsilas heads the Onassis Foundation. He argues that returning the statues will restore the monument that symbolizes ancient civilization. "The return of the Elgin marbles is requested by all Greeks, not some Greeks," Mr. Tsilas said. "What Greece is asking is not that the marbles return simply to Greece, but that the marbles return to a monument which symbolizes the cradle of democracy, the classic civilization, which as a matter of fact belongs to the universe to the whole world."
The Onassis Center is currently exhibiting a reproduction of a carving of an ancient chariot race, split in two. The accompanying caption reads: "both pieces, currently divided between Athens and London, should be rejoined at the new Acropolis museum."
A model of that $100 million Acropolis museum is displayed, too. Advocates say that the construction of the elaborate glass-walled, earthquake-proof museum for the upcoming summer Olympic games in Athens counters the British Museum's argument that it provides the safest and most appropriate venue for the marbles.
But the debate over the fate of the statues is the most high profile in a growing number of controversies with broad implications for the art world.
A Case Western University art historian and expert on the Parthenon Frieze, Jenifer Neils, says that in opposing the return of the marbles to Greece, art institutions are trying to avoid setting a precedent for the repatriation of ancient art. "They have a kind of floodgate mentality," she said. "Once you return something, you are opening floodgates and everything will be asked for return. I do not think this is the case, since most of this cultural property was traded and exchanged and sold it is really is a special, case by case basis."
The topic is so hot that no curator who opposes the return of the marbles would agree to be interviewed for this story. One art director from a northeastern museum told VOA that he does not want his name used because he worries that if he voices his view, "he will never be invited back to Greece." But in an apparent show of support for the British Museum, 18 of the world's leading museum directors, including nine from the United States, signed a statement, published in the British press last December.
The document discourages illegal trafficking of ancient and ethnic art. But it says repatriation should be judged individually, because many objects have "become part of the museums that have cared for them, and by extension, part of the heritage of the nations, which house them." But Professor Neils said throughout much of the world, museums have a national mission.
"If you go to museums in Italy, or Greece and Egypt, their museums are not like ours," Ms. Neils said. They are not trying to be universal museums, art museums. They have a different mission, which is to present the culture of their own country."
Many countries in Europe, including France and Britain, also require export permits to sell or remove important artistic works and some give governments the right of first refusal.
In 1970, the United Nations imposed strict international regulations on the sale of ethnic or ancient art.
Onassis foundation director Loucas Tsilis says that the British Museum can resolve the dispute by using the 2004 Athens Olympics as justification for returning the marbles, perhaps as a long-term loan.
"The Olympic games are important because, as we will be celebrating these important games in the land of their birth and almost 100 years after their modern revival, it would be appropriate and a very good sign to have an important monument of this era restored to its integrity again," said Loucas Tsilis . The controversy over the Elgin Marbles is one of several repatriation disputes, including the fate of the Pergamon Alter, claimed by Turkey but displayed in Berlin, the Benin Bronzes now in Scotland, and Native American Indian art scattered all over the world in private collections.