http://museum-security.org/
securma@xs4all.nl
The Illicit Antiquities Research Centre (IARC) of the McDonald Institute for
Archaeological Research in Cambridge, England, has begun monitoring the
international trade in antiquities stolen or clandestinely excavated and
illegally exported.
The center hopes to link groups that keep lists of stolen antiquities (such as
the Art Loss Register, the International Foundation for Art Research, the
International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art, and Scotland Yard's Art
and Antiques Department), national antiquities authorities, the academic
community, and legitimate collectors and dealers of ancient art.
Other goals of IARC include pressing the British government to ratify
international conventions on the trade in antiquities, trying to cooperate with
dealers and auction houses to encourage adherence to ethical practices, and
promoting educational measures to foster respect for archaeological heritage.
IARC's Near Eastern Project will publish a biannual report, Culture Without
Context, which will document the depredation of sites and museums in the Near
East, Egypt, and Asia Minor, especially in areas disrupted by international and
civil conflicts. The first issue is devoted to the appearance of Assyrian
sculptures on the international art market.
Peter Watson, author of Sotheby's: Inside Story, has joined IARC, where he will
continue investigating the illicit antiquities trade. Random House will publish
an American edition of the book this year.--MARK ROSE
© 1998 by the Archaeological Institute of America
http://www.archaeology.org/9801/newsb
riefs/antiquities.html
From: KlausZ KlausZ@aol.com
Date sent: Fri, 2 Jan 1998 06:16:44 EST
To: securma@xs4all.nl
Subject:
Dear Ms. Schmeits;
Reading the Museum Security News I found your inquiry per 12/31/97.
Authentication of property against theft is one of our specialties. We use
color coded micro particles for that purpose. Please, visit our web page
http://www.micot.com. If you are interested
in our product, email me your address for information and samples.
Sincerely,
Klaus K. Zimmermann,
MICOT CORPORATION
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 09:21:27 -0500
From: "MR. JOHN SANTILLI" SANTILLJ@USNWC.EDU
To: securma@xs4all.nl
Subject:
Tom,
As Information Systems Security Manager for the Naval War College in Newport
RI, I am charged with the protection of information resources and related
assets in their relation to this Commands mission. While we may not be of the
same fiber, I feel that we have a common bond. The information relayed within
this network is reinforcing to my efforts and of specific value to the
Command's museum and library. I hope everyone will keep up their individually
significant good work toward the flow of valuable information and I wish
everyone a secure and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Sincerely,
John
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 09:59:58 +0000
From: Dona Leicht leicht@kristalle.com
Reply-to: leicht@kristalle.com
Organization: Kristalle
To: securma@museum-security.org
Subject:
On December 7 we suffered a home robbery in which about $200,000 worth of
gold specimens, a historical silver specimen and a historic collection of gold
rush jewelry was taken. How can I go about getting the word out since they
pieces would all be considered as museum quality. I was referred to you by the
National History Museum of Los Angeles. Thanks. You can check our web site at
www.kristalle.com to view photos of some of the pieces taken.
Dona Leicht
KRISTALLE
"Virginia M. Curry" VMCurry@aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 1998 23:31:49 EST
To: securma@xs4all.nl
Subject:
In response to Ms. Leicht's inquiry as how to advise the appropriate parties of her loss of historic gold coins. While she has not stated her location I understand that she is at least writing from the United States. I would strongly suggest that she contact the nearest office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. If the loss occurred in Los Angeles, the appropriate telephone number to contact is (310) 477-6565. Aside from contacting experts in the field and making them aware of the loss, the FBI can place photographs of the coins in the National Stolen Coin file, specifically designed for this purpose.`
The person below has been receiving the Museum Security Mailinglist messages
for quite some time now wothout being subscribed. His nor my ISP has been able
to explain this. The only possibillity remaining is that someone who is on our
list is forwarding our messages to:
Kicks@Kaiserslautern.Netsurf.de
If so, please do not do that anymore.
Thanks
Ton Cremers
Date: Sat, 3 Jan 1998 14:12:39 +0100 (MET)
To: securma@xs4all.nl
From: Kicks@Kaiserslautern.Netsurf.de (Chris)
Subject: Re: some changes
Happy new year to you too..please just give a little notice to the list that
Im not on it and to stop sending me stuff..
Thanks
--Chris
January 1, 1998
BY MARK BROWN COOK COUNTY REPORTER
Paul and Camille Oliver-Hoffmann took the bows for their $5 million pledge to the new Museum of Contemporary Art, but when it came time to pay, they bowed out, the museum alleged Wednesday in a lawsuit. Oliver-Hoffmann, a real estate developer, made the $5 million written pledge in 1990 while serving as chairman of the museum's board of trustees. At the time, the museum was raising funds for construction of its new home at 220 E. Chicago. As board chairman, Oliver-Hoffmann took a major role in that campaign, which raised $72 million, far exceeding the $55 million goal. The museum opened in 1996 with the Oliver-Hoffmanns prominently honored on a plaque for major contributors and in museum publications. Along the way, they also attended many functions arranged by the museum in recognition of their gift, museum officials said. Their $5 million pledge--the second-highest amount promised by any donor--was due to be paid on June 30, 1997, but the Oliver-Hoffmanns failed to respond to any of the reminder notices sent by the museum, according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. Lawyers for the museum said the Oliver-Hoffmanns never stated an objection to honoring the pledge but never paid any of the money. Penny Pritzker, the museum's current board chairman, said the board was filing suit reluctantly. ``We have always expected to receive this pledge and have relied on its payment in planning our future,'' Pritzker said. ``By taking this action, we are managing the museum's affairs professionally and appropriately.'' The Oliver-Hoffmanns have been cited as among the nation's top private art collectors. Their Lake Shore Drive home displays their collection of 20th century paintings and sculpture and 18th century French and English furniture. They could not be reached for comment. Camille Oliver-Hoffmann once told Art & Antiques magazine: ``I don't think it's fun to be a collector. It's heartbreaking. I take one trip to New York and deplete my acquisitions budget for the entire year.'' Paul Oliver-Hoffmann remains a member of the museum's board by virtue of his past chairmanship, but he no longer attends board meetings, said museum spokeswoman Maureen King.
By Dina Kyriakidou
KNOSSOS, Greece, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Alarmed by the rapid crumbling of the Minoan
palace at Knossos, archaeologists are rushing to rescue the 5,000-year-old site
from further damage by millions of tourists. One of the world's most visited
monuments, the sprawling compound on the Greek island of Crete offers a unique
glimpse of Europe's oldest civilisation. But its popularity has also meant its
near-destruction. The palace has suffered both from the liberal concrete
additions made earlier this century by Arthur Evans, the British archaeologist
who excavated it, and the 1.3 million tourists who walk on its soft limestone
every year. ``The site was not prepared for them. The materials were very
sensitive, rock, mud and limestone,'' said Alexandra Karetsou, antiquities
director at the nearby town of Iraklion. ``Plus the palace was meant to be
covered and weather has also damaged it.'' In a last-ditch effort to suspend
the ravages of time, Greek archaeologists have launched an ambitious
700-million drachma ($2.5 million) restoration project, expected to be
completed by the end of the century. A tourist pathway has been built slightly
above the ground to lead visitors around the multi-level site, exposed rooms
will be covered, and Evans's decaying additions propped up. The reversible wood
and metal corridor mimics the ancient route into the palace, and while it keeps
tourists off the ancient floors it makes the site more visitor-friendly,
Karetsou told Reuters. ``The new tourist routes make much more sense of the
Minoan processional walk than the old paths,'' said Colin McDonald, the British
School's curator at Knossos. Pointing to eroding gypsum blocks, McDonald said:
``Rain has eaten away about two centimetres (one inch) of stone in the last 50
years. This is not the Acropolis, which is hard marble. This is soft gypsum and
limestone and must be protected.''
Perched on a gently sloping hill among pines, olive trees and vines, the palace's maze of staircases, rooms and corridors inspired the myth that this was the Labyrinth, home of the Minotaur, the half-human, half-bull, man-eating monster. Evans bought the site of Knossos a century ago and went on to reveal the Bronze Age's most sophisticated architecture, a testament to a mysterious civilisation whose language -- Linear A -- has yet to be deciphered. Massive stone bull-horns adorn the palace walls and huge pithoi (clay pots) are buried deep in its numerous storerooms. The walls are covered with deeply coloured frescoes of ritual processions, outdoor parties and nature scenes. Bull-leaping games, as seen in Minoan paintings, were once believed to have been held in its central courtyard -- now considered way too small for a charging animal. Exquisite art, a total lack of fortifications and an apparent absence of weapons led to a popular belief that the sea-faring and rich Minoans were fun-loving flower children. ``You don't create an empire and control most of the Aegean by waving flowers at people,'' McDonald said. In fact, evidence of ritual human sacrifice and even cannibalism have revealed a much more violent side of Minoan culture in recent years. McDonald said excavations by Greek archaeologists and the British School around Knossos have produced interesting finds about ritual murder. ``We found seven skeletons with knife marks on the bones, which may be cannibalism,'' he said. ``This was a ceremonial, one-off thing to appease a deity at a time of destruction.''
Evans used reinforced concrete, a new material with vast potential in his
time, to reconstruct extensively and rather liberally over the palace's
foundations. ``The idea that Evans's additions should be removed has been
floated but it's impossible to pull them down without destroying the old
foundations,'' said Jordan Demakopoulos, director of antiquities restoration at
the culture ministry. The British School's McDonald said that Evans's additions
had now become part and parcel of the site and offered archaeologists insight
into historical restoration methods. Demakopoulos said a long-tested chemical
substance will cover the gypsum walls to harden them and a special draining
system will be installed in the central courtyard, which now turns into a mud
pool with every rain. ``We will support Evans's concrete to lighten its weight
on the ancient walls. All our additions will be recognisable so no visitor or
historian will ever confuse them with the real thing,'' he said. Archaeologists
are keen not to turn Knossos solely into an open air museum since the site,
which has been inhabited since Neolithic times, has hardly been excavated and
continues to produce valuable finds, he added. The Knossos palace is layer upon
layer of buildings, the earliest dating to about 2,000 BC and the last
mysteriously destroyed in about 1,400 BC after the arrival of the Myceneans
from the Greek mainland. ``As we dig outwards we keep discovering the city of
Knossos. We think 100,000 people lived here in its heyday,'' Karetsou said.
``We continue to excavate and gain knowledge on an almost daily basis.''
Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited.