Tags
antiquities, archaeology, art crime, art market, artefact, artifact, authenticity, Biblical Archaeology Review, Biblical Archaeology Society, collecting, cultural preservation, excavation, provenance
This editorial from the most recent issue of Biblical Archaeology Review does an excellent job of summarizing the concerns raised by studying artefacts that were inadequately, improperly, or even illegally excavated. Within this example, comparing two scholarly books, author Hershel Shenks outlines every major problem currently being debated; I highly recommend it as a brief introduction to a typically abstruse discussion.