Editors’ Page: Defining Ethics

In Editor’s Page: The Two Faces of AIA, Managing Editor Jack Meinhardt wrote about a young scholar who was told he would have to resign from our Editorial Advisory Board if he wanted to serve in any official capacity with the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). Moreover, his career would be hurt, so he was told, if he maintained an official connection with Archaeology Odyssey.

Since then, the AIA’s position has been clarified. Members of its Governing Board must sign a pledge that they will abide by the AIA’s Code of Ethics. That is why, in order to be a member of the Governing Board, you cannot be a member of our Editorial Advisory Board.

Upon hearing this, I promptly looked at a copy of the AIA’s Code of Ethics. The only provision that even arguably applies to this situation states as follows:

“Members of the AIA should … refuse to participate in the trade of undocumented antiquities and refrain from activities that enhance the commercial value of such objects.”^a