Category Archives: Heritage

Recent report on the illicit antiquities trade receives mixed response

Posted on: June 10, 2020 by Charlotte Dunn

A UNESCO-backed research project into the illicit trade in cultural property in Germany has recently released its final report. The ‘ILLICID Project’, launched by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, aimed to increase understanding of illicit trafficking networks and financial flows linked to organised crime and terrorism. However, the findings of the final […]

Measured Relaxation of AAMD Restrictions Provides Some Flexibility for US Museums Navigating COVID Impacts

Posted on: May 29, 2020 by Megan Noh

Approximately one month ago, the Association of American Museum Directors (AAMD) announced that its Board of Trustees had passed a series of resolutions relaxing certain restrictions on its member institutions. For a 24-month period, AAMD will not sanction or censure member institutions who, for general operating expenses, draw on the following sources: Income (but not […]

Iconic Titanic Marconi telegraph subject of key judgment

Posted on: May 28, 2020 by Paul Stevenson

Readers will recall the lore surrounding Titanic’s Marconi wireless operators, Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, who, it is said, famously stayed at their post sending distress messages whilst the Atlantic Ocean lapped at their feet. There has been conflicting and contradictory information about the demise of Phillips and Bride. Bride survived but it is almost […]

“Thinking without a banister”: reflections on the Court of Appeal ruling on the Airports National Policy Statement Designation

Posted on: May 20, 2020 by Pamela Campion

In these extraordinary times of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ascendant market-oriented ideologies of the last five decades have been placed on lock down. We are all being forced to think about the society we live in and which outcomes should be prioritised. How do we balance the health of citizens against the growth of the […]

Lessons in Collecting from the Museum of the Bible

Posted on: April 14, 2020 by Charlotte Dunn

The Museum of the Bible has been a site of continual controversy since its opening in November 2017. The issues it has faced range from alleged thefts and forgeries to the illicit trade in antiquities. More than anything else, the Museum’s difficulties have demonstrated the importance of careful provenance research before acquiring artefacts for a […]

A Round-Up of Recent Historic Environment Developments

Posted on: March 27, 2020 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds

The fate of Stonehenge and the A303 has reared its ugly head again, or perhaps not. When the Chancellor announced the Budget on 11 March 2020 he confirmed the Government’s continued commitment to the Stonehenge scheme, saying it is “going to get it done”. However, this does not mean the scheme has been given the […]

Renewed search for one of Spain’s “greatest treasure galleons”

Posted on: February 25, 2020 by Paul Stevenson

Media reports this month claim that almost four centuries after the ill-fated galleon Nuestra Señora del Juncal (“the Juncal”), a Spanish naval vessel, sank off the Mexican coast in a storm in October 1631, researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History and Spain’s National Museum of Underwater Archaeology are to undertake a 10-day […]

Is the Titanic struggle over?

Posted on: January 28, 2020 by Paul Stevenson

Everyone knows that the wreck of RMS Titanic is special. Media reports have confirmed as much over the past week, which has seen reports about the wreck site and a bespoke international compact relating to the ill-fated vessel make headlines. As media reports have confirmed, a treaty negotiated in 2003 (Agreement Concerning the Shipwrecked Vessel […]

Finder of RMS Titanic in bid to solve Earhart mystery

Posted on: August 20, 2019 by Paul Stevenson

In something a bit different for followers of underwater cultural heritage, and a reminder that underwater heritage is not only about shipwrecks, news this week from the New York Times amongst others that veteran underwater sleuth Dr Robert Ballard, finder of RMS Titanic, has charted a course for a remote atoll in the Pacific island […]

Just Released: Art Antiquity & Law July 2019 Issue

Posted on: July 23, 2019 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

Landing just in time to absorb you during the Summer holidays, the July 2019 issue of Art Antiquity & Law (Vol. XXIV, Issue 2) has been released in print and online. Subscriptions are available either as hardcopy only, digital only as well as digital + hardcopy packages and can be purchased directly through our website. […]