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Transcending Borders: Objects on the Move

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Abstract

Does the demand for archaeological artefacts in the legal marketplace in Israel increase the looting of archaeological sites in the region? Through the course of investigating this question it became apparent that while consumer demand may be at the heart of the trade in antiquities, the nature and driving forces behind looting are far more complex than is often understood. The motivations for looting involve notions of nationalism, the forces of globalism, conflicting preservation and management plans, colonialism, and long-entrenched traditional practices. It is an examination of this complexity (i.e. the multiple forms of and incentives for looting), which forms the focus of this paper. This is an exploration of the multivocality of the various agents who make it possible for objects to transcend borders.

Resumen

¿La demanda de objetos/artefactos arqueológicos en el mercado legal en Israel ha incrementado el saqueo de los sitios arqueológicos en esa región? Al investigar esta pregunta se hizo evidente que mientras la demanda del consumidor puede ser el centro del comercio en antigüedades, las razones detrás del saqueo son mucho más complejas de lo que comúnmente se cree. Las motivaciones para el saqueo incluyen nociones de nacionalismo, las fuerzas de globalización, los planes de conservación y administración, colonialismo y prácticas tradicionales sólidas. El objetivo de este trabajo es explicar la complejidad de las múltiples formas e incentivos del saqueo. Esta es una investigación de la multivocalidad de los varios agentes que hacen posible que los objetos puedan ser transcendentes en las fronteras.

Resumé

Est-ce que la demande des objets façonnés archéologiques dans le marché légal en Israel augmente le pillage des emplacements archéologiques dans la région? Par le cours d’étudier cette question il est devenu évident que tandis que la demande du consommateur peut être au coeur des échanges des antiquités, la nature et les forces d’entraînement derrière le pillage sont plus complexes bien qu’est souvent compris. Les motivations pour piller impliquent des notions du nationalisme, les forces du mondialisme, des plans contradictoires de conservation et de gestion, colonialisme, et des pratiques traditionnelles long-indélogeables. C’est un examen de cette complexité (c.-à-d. les formes de et les incitations multiples pour le pillage), qui forme le centre de cet article. C’est une exploration du multivocality des divers agents qui permettent pour que les objets dépassent des frontières.

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Notes

  1. Quasi-legal markets are those that possess both illegal and legal aspects. As an outcome of my research I determined that the supposedly legal market for antiquities in Israel is actually quasi-legal as looted material (illegally excavated) from Israel and Palestine is sold (after a laundering process) in legally sanctioned establishments and legally available for export from Israel.

  2. Under the 1993 Oslo Accords the West Bank was divided into three zones: A, where the PA has the greatest authority; B, where the PA had some limited authority but Israel maintains a security presence and ‘overriding security responsibility’; and C, under Israeli military occupation. It is in area C that the greatest amount of resistance looting takes place.

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Acknowledgements

I am extremely grateful to those individuals who participated in my research by agreeing to be interviewed. In order to preserve anonymity and confidentiality no individuals were explicitly named, but I greatly appreciate their faith in my research. None of this could have been accomplished without the kindness and generosity of the various stakeholders in Israel, Jordan, and the PA. In particular I would like to thank the various representatives of the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, and the Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for supporting and encouraging my research at every opportunity. This research was generously supported by the Tweedie Exploration Foundation, the University of Edinburgh; the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem; the Palestinian American Research Center (PARC); the Ridgeway-Venn Travel Studentship, University of Cambridge; and a Dorothy Garrod Award of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. Lastly, insightful comments from Christina Luke and four anonymous reviewers were enormously helpful in restructuring this paper.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 100 St George Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 3G3

    Morag M. Kersel

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Correspondence to Morag M. Kersel.

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Kersel, M.M. Transcending Borders: Objects on the Move. Arch 3, 81–98 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-007-9013-0

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