World Cultural Assets: Ownership, Loss, Recovery, and Protection: Antiquities

"The 1000-plus entries of this 2v. encyclopedia were compiled from the 34v. Grove dictionary of art and from Grove art online, with the addition of 100 entries written specially for this work. In keeping with the authoritative presentation of its sources, this is a substantial reference, with (unsigned) in-depth entries on all manner of things related to classical art and architecture, including lengthy entries on Greece and Italy, on major styles such as Etruscan and Hellenistic, and on major cities, major monuments, and artistic media." (Booknews.com)

In addition to plentiful place-based entries, this encyclopedia also includes useful entries on Ethical Issues, Illicit Antiquities, Native Peoples and Archaeology, and Who Owns the Past? Includes guides to further reading.

This online encyclopedia by the Trafficking Culture research group at the University of Glasgow contains about 100 articles, many on particular looted artifacts or archaeological sites.

This important survey of the cultural, historical, and political aspects of repatriation begins with two in-depth studies of the return of Icelandic manuscripts and the controversy over the Elgin Marbles, then briefly surveys cases from American and British museums involving art and artifacts from Asia, Africa, and North America, and concludes with a discussion of legal aspects and the art market.

From inside cover: "This book is about the repatriation, or not, of great works of art and antiquity. . . . The Elgin marbles are the most famous example, but there are thousands of others. . . . In this volume prominent museum and government officials and leading scholars consider the ultimate disposition of the Elgin marbles in the British Museum, the bust of Nefertiti in Berlin, and American Indian artifacts and human remains in American museums."

This collection includes essays by scholars of art, anthropology, area studies, and philosophy, as well as museum directors. These essays oppose what they call the archaeological establishment by advocating for the importance of encyclopedic museums and arguing that even objects without reliable provenance must have a place in them.

A wide-ranging collection of essays published by Cambridge University Press on cultural heritage, largely from a legal or political perspective. Contains sections on preservation and protection, international law, and museums, among others.

This book by two journalists tells the story that began in 1974 with the establishment of the Los Angeles Getty Museum, based on the fortune and private collection of J. Paul Getty, and which culminated in 2005 with the indictment in Rome of the museum's antiquities curator for the illegal acquisition of art.

"This volume [published by Routledge] highlights the deleterious effects of the trade on cultural heritage, but in particular it focuses upon questions of legal and local responses: How can people become involved in the preservation of their past and what, in economic terms, are the costs and benefits? Are international conventions or export restrictions effective in diminishing the volume of the trade and the scale of its associated destruction?" (Syndetics)

"Roger Atwood's Stealing History presents a compelling, thorough, and firsthand investigation of the many facets of the international trade in looted archaeological artifacts. ... Atwood's book makes a significant contribution to the scholarship on the subject, but it is accessible to the archaeologist, legal expert, and general public alike. ... This book contributes more than any other publication in more than 30 years to an understanding of the devastation of cultural heritage." (American Journal of Archaeology)

Based on a 2007 conference at Notre Dame, this collection of essays focuses on practical issues faced by museum curators, archaeologists, and collectors.

Cuno (Art Institute of Chicago) sets his stage for a discussion of an ongoing legalistic international battle dealing with archaeological objects by introducing the case of the Elgin marbles. What superficially may seem a simple matter of "ethnic nationalism" is described as considerably more complex, dealing with such matters as "cultural property," the notion of nation-states, and "partage"--the sharing of archaeological finds (the author's suggested solution to disputes). Cuno gives special attention to some problems faced in China and to others in Turkey. UNESCO's role in trying to arbitrate disputes points up the difficulties of the changing nature of geographical boundaries in determining ownership. Cuno's thoughtful exposition and extensive bodies of evidence leave readers with the concept that "cultural purity is an oxymoron." The author makes quite clear that "people make culture, nations don't," and that claims by modern countries for ownership of objects based on their definitions of cultural property fail to deal with a more profound understanding of the common evolution underpinning all cultures. (K. Marantz - Choice Review)

Cultural heritage is material --- tangible and intangible --- that signifies a culture's history or legacy. It has become a venue for contestation, ranging in scale from protesting to violently claimed and destroyed. But who defines what is to be preserved and what is to be erased? As cultural heritage becomes increasingly significant across the world, the number of issues for critical analysis and, hopefully, mediation, arise.The issue stems from various groups: religious, ethnic, national, political, and others come together to claim, appropriate, use, exclude, or erase markers and manifestations of their own and others' cultural heritage as a means for asserting, defending, or denying critical claims to power, land, and legitimacy. Can cultural heritage be well managed and promoted while at the same time kept within parameters so as to diminish contestation? The cases herein rage from Greece, Spain, Egypt, the UK, Syria, Zimbabwe, Italy, the Balkans, Benin, and Central America. (Descriptive content by Syndetics)

First issued in 1967 and substantially revised for the third 1998 edition, this is one of the most comprehensive discussions of the hitsory of the Marbles. Describes in detail the history of Elgin's interest in the Marbles and his work on the Acropolis, culminating in their removal and eventual acquisition by the British Museum. Although the history's focus is the years 1798-1816, the revised version also includes descriptions of the disastrous attempt at restoration in the 1930s, which destroyed the original surface, and the history of the Parthenon site since.

Contains 17 previously published articles by one of the most prominent writers on the Elgin Marbles, a professor of law and art at Stanford.

An expanded version of an essay initially published by Hitchens in the Spectator, including essays by two others on the history and restoration of the Parthenon. It contains a history of the Marbles' acquisition by Elgin and the British Museum and the long controversy that followed. Hitchens himself argues passionately for their return.