The Forum

Advertising Antiquities

Although I enjoy the articles in your magazine, I cannot in good conscience renew my subscription. Archaeology Odyssey carries advertisements for ancient antiquities and therefore promotes the market for archaeologically derived items. From personal experience, I know that the uncontrolled mining of archaeological sites for antiquities destroys the information contained in them for all of posterity. I cannot support a magazine that supports this destruction of the past.

We, too, deplore the destruction of archaeological sites, and we feel that those who knowingly traffic in illegal antiquities should be punished, perhaps even imprisoned. However, during the last few decades—a period in which many countries have imposed an outright ban on the selling of cultural property—the looting of archaeological sites and the trade in illegal antiquities have increased. Our position, then, is that this policy clearly is not working and should be reformed. The reforms we advocate would include the sale of certain duplicates found in great numbers (some coins, say), as well as other limited market solutions.—Ed.