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English
Oxford University Press Inc
15 January 2017
The destruction of ancient monuments and artworks by the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has shocked observers worldwide. Yet iconoclastic erasures of the past date back at least to the mid-1300s BCE, during the Amarna Period of ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty. Far more damage to the past has been inflicted by natural disasters, looters, and public works.

Art historian Maxwell Anderson's Antiquities: What Everyone Needs to Know (R) analyzes continuing threats to our heritage, and offers a balanced account of treaties and laws governing the circulation of objects; the history of collecting antiquities; how forgeries are made and detected; how authentic works are documented, stored, dispersed, and displayed; the politics of sending antiquities back to their countries of origin; and the outlook for an expanded legal market. Anderson provides a summary of challenges ahead, including the future of underwater archaeology, the use of drones, remote sensing, and how invisible markings on antiquities will allow them to be traced.

Written in question-and-answer format, the book equips readers with a nuanced understanding of the legal, practical, and moral choices that face us all when confronting antiquities in a museum gallery, shop window, or for sale on the Internet.

By:  
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 223mm,  Width: 152mm,  Spine: 23mm
Weight:   496g
ISBN:   9780190614928
ISBN 10:   0190614927
Series:   What Everyone Needs to Know
Pages:   272
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Acknowledgments Foreword Part I: Legal and Practical Realities Chapter 1: Defining Antiquities What are the differences among antiquities, archaeological materials, and ancient art? How is archaeological material defined? How are scientifically excavated objects removed from under land or water? How is ancient art defined? Are there accepted arbiters of these definitions? How have these definitions changed over time? How do different countries define antiquities? What are the differences among countries, nations, and 'state parties'? How do scholars define antiquity differently from culture to culture? Chapter 2: Cultural Ownership: Past and Present Did people collect in antiquity? How did artifacts move across cultures in the ancient world? When did ancient cultures turn into modern ones? Who gets to decide whether an artwork has 'repose'-or a permanent claim to stay in its current place? What happens to cultural ownership when governments or regimes change? Why does a modern nation have a claim to an ancient culture? Chapter 3: Framing Today's Debate What are the key issues in debate on this matter? What are the fault lines between archaeologists and those defending collecting? What is at stake in the debate? Who gets to decide the outcomes of claims and counter-claims? How has the debate changed over the last few years? Chapter 4: The Cosmopolitan Argument What does the contextual argument leave unanswered? What is the cosmopolitan argument? How is it rooted in history? What practical steps are implied in the cosmopolitan argument? How has the cosmopolitan argument been received? Chapter 5: Divining Originals, Pastiches, and Forgeries What are the origins of copying and forging antiquities? How is an original antiquity recognized as such? What reveals that an antiquity has been restored? What is meant by an intervention? What is meant by pastiches? How do experts identify forgeries? How long have there been forgeries? Are fakes and fraudulently restored artifacts a big part of the market? How do experts insure that works are authentic? Are there degrees of authenticity? How many forgeries make their way into established collections? Part II: Settled Law and Open Questions Chapter 6: International Conventions and Treaties What prompted a global conversation about conventions on cultural property? Is there a generally accepted understanding of which antiquities are legal to export and import? What are the international treaties governing what is legal? How have market nations dealt with the UNESCO Convention? How have source nations dealt with the UNESCO Convention? What treaties have come in the wake of the UNESCO Convention? What is meant by

Dr. Maxwell L. Anderson has researched, published, and presented exhibitions of ancient artworks for more than thirty years. He was a curator in the Department of Greek and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for over six years, held teaching positions in the field of Roman art history at the University of Rome II, Princeton University, and Emory University, and spent nearly three decades as an art museum director, most recently at the Dallas Museum of Art. In 2002, while President of the Association of Art Museum Directors, he formed a Task Force on Archaeological Materials & Ancient Art, which he chaired for the better part of a decade, fostering responsible collecting practices among museums. He is now Executive Director of the New Cities Foundation.

Reviews for Antiquities: What Everyone Needs to Know (R)

Throughout his career, Max Anderson has sought to bring clarity and transparency to the complex and often confusing subject of antiquities and, more broadly, the stewardship of cultural property. Clear-eyed both in its understanding of the intellectual dimensions of the ongoing debate about this issue and in its mastery of detail, this beautifully written book will serve not only as a lucid introduction to those unfamiliar with this complex and unfamiliar terrain, but also a valuable reference for collectors and museum professionals. -- Timothy Rub, The George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, Philadelphia Museum of Art Well written, concise, informative, and timely; chock full of expert insider knowledge. This is must reading for all who are interested in the past and concerned about protecting our mutual heritage in the future. --Eric H. Cline, The George Washington University Anderson's new book should be titled: 'Antiquities: What Everyone Needs to Know but is afraid to ask!' Anderson dares to try to illuminate the contested claims of ownership to humanity's collective past. This book is a must-read if you yourself care about being able to participate in these fascinating, and, indeed fateful discussions, in a fully informed way. --Selma Holo, USC Fisher Museum of Art Maxwell Anderson has, for more than thirty years, suggested novel and constructive solutions for the perennial problem of conflicting claims for archaeological material. It is unlikely that the governments of source countries, archaeologists, private collectors, or public museum officers will ever see eye to eye on the vexing question of who owns antiquity, but for anyone with an interest in the matter, Anderson lays out the issues with refreshing clarity and informed insights. --Gary Tinterow, Director, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Antiquities provides a most comprehensive and thoughtful guide to this vastly complicated subject, for collectors, students and scholars, museum professionals, and more. Anderson achieves a provocative balance between cosmopolitan and contextual arguments, between interests of archaeologists and art historians, and intrinsic and functional values of both ancient art and archaeological materials. Readers learn about the history of global trade, important legal cases and international treaties, and about the future of antiquities with drones, databases, and archaeogaming. Anderson's personal and longtime ardor for antiquities threads throughout the book, reminding us about the importance of the past, our common past, how it defines us all, and how it can help us make sense of our humanity and our present. -- Susana Smith Bautista, Director of Public Engagement, USC Pacific Asia Museum


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