Hostname: page-component-857557d7f7-8wkb5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-24T09:28:01.965Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
- English
- Français
Article contents
The Pillage of Prehistory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
- Payson D. Sheets*
- Affiliation:Department of Anthropology, California State University, Fresno
Abstract
The pillaging of archaeological sites throughout the world for salable items is increasing at an alarming rate. Recent information on looting in Mesoamerica, North America, and the Mediterranean area is summarized, and the weaknesses of the UNESCO and U.S.-Mexico treaties are outlined. Also described is a new and extremely destructive form of looting in Mesoamerica. It involves amassing many thousands of dollars from private investors for a project to decimate a chosen site, using explosives and power equipment, and then subdividing the loot among the sponsors. It is time for the SAA to act to stop the wanton destruction of the prehistoric record.
Information
- Type
- Reports
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1973
Access options
Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)Article purchase
Temporarily unavailable
References
Adams,Robert McC.1971Illicit international traffic in antiquities.American Antiquity36(l):ii–iii.Google Scholar
Carley,William M.1971Some of the looters of archaeological sites now turn to murder.Wall Street Journal, Nov. 30,1971:1,24. AmbroGoogle Scholar
C. William,Clewlow, Jr.,Hallinan,P. J., andR. D.,1971A crisis in archaeology.American Antiquity36:472473.Google Scholar
Clemency,Coggins1969Illicit traffic of Pre-Columbian antiquities.Art Journal29:94–114.Google Scholar
Clemency,Coggins1970The Maya scandal: how thieves strip sites of past cultures.Smithsonian8–17.Google Scholar
Heath,D. W., andHunter,J. R.1969Costa Rican Government restricts archaeological investigation.Current Anthropology10:466.Google Scholar
Owen, David R.,1970Picking up the pieces: the salvage excavation of a looted fifth century B.C. shipwreck in the Straits of Messina.Expedition13:24–29.Google Scholar
