480: Roger Atwood | Stealing History

Market Dynamics

Roger Atwood highlights how the antiquities market has evolved, with modern smuggling practices surpassing even the colonial looting of the past. He explains that looters in Peru shifted from metal objects to textiles due to legal crackdowns, making textiles easier to smuggle. This shift illustrates the market's adaptability to legal pressures and the ongoing demand for illicit artifacts 1 2.

Looters went through sites all over the Northern coast of Peru looking for these objects. But then there was a lot of law enforcement, there was a very important legal case. A museum and several collectors got in trouble for having these pieces.

--- Roger Atwood

Atwood's insights reveal the persistent and evolving nature of the illicit antiquities trade.

   

Dealer Tactics

Dealers and collectors often use self-serving arguments to justify their involvement in the trade of looted antiquities. Atwood notes that they claim to find artifacts accidentally, but in reality, looters deliberately target sites to meet collector demands. He also describes innovative smuggling tactics, such as disguising authentic artifacts to evade detection 3 4.

People will take an authentic pot and then wrap it with some kind of clay to make it look like a cheap tourist tchotchke and do this hundreds of times, and then they'll export them.

--- Roger Atwood

These tactics highlight the lengths to which individuals will go to profit from this illicit trade.

   

Authenticity Issues

The authenticity of artifacts is a significant challenge in the antiquities market. Atwood shares his experience posing as a buyer, revealing that authentic looted items can be cheaper than fakes due to their mass production in antiquity. This paradox underscores the complexities and risks buyers face in this market 5.

The looted authentic antiquities were cheaper than the fakes because the production of them was so great in antiquity.

--- Roger Atwood

Buyers often struggle to verify the authenticity of artifacts, complicating the trade further.

   

Museum Policies

Museums play a crucial role in the antiquities market, and their policies are evolving to address the issue of looted artifacts. Atwood explains that museums are increasingly pressured to return looted items and are shifting towards displaying objects excavated by trained archaeologists. This change aims to preserve cultural heritage and reduce the demand for looted artifacts 6 7.

Museums should be acquiring objects that have no known provenance. Museums if they want to show ancient objects, they should really be showing objects that have been excavated archeologically.

--- Roger Atwood

These evolving policies are crucial in curbing the illicit trade and preserving historical context.