BARview: A Radical Proposal: Archaeologists Should Sell Ancient Artifacts

I begin with a paradox:

Archaeology as a profession is the poorest of the poor; only paltry sums are available to excavate, and even less for publishing the results, and still less for preserving the sites once excavated. Yet archaeologists deal with priceless objects every day.

Let me now turn to an unsolved problem facing all of us concerned about archaeology—the problem of illegal excavation. My focus here, however, is the problem of illegal excavation in Israel, Jordan and their neighbor countries in the Middle East. I am convinced that the problem is a far different one in this area of the world than it is, for example, in Mexico, Central America or Southeast Asia. In those areas, sophisticated, well-financed plunderers are raping inaccessible jungle sites and flying out major museum-quality pieces to be sold to the highest bidder. It is perhaps unfortunate that the ancient mounds of Israel and Jordan rarely contain such major pieces. In any event, I want to focus on the Middle Eastern countries’ problem of controlling local villagers or Bedouin who dig for pottery jugs, vessels, lamps or an occasional figurine.

I would like to make an outrageous, perhaps even heretical, suggestion that would at one stroke provide funds for archaeology and reduce the amount of illegal digging in Israel and Jordan.