On October 27, 2020, the US Cultural Property Advisory Committee (“CPAC”) met to consider a proposed MOU with Nigeria and proposed renewals with Bolivia and Greece. The following members were present: (1) Stefan Passantino (Chairman- Public); (2) Steven Bledsoe (Public); (3) Karol Wight (Museums); (4) J.D. Demming (Public); (5) Ricardo St. Hilaire (Archaeology); (6) Joan Connelly (Archaeology) and (7) Anthony Wisniewski (Collector-Sale of International Cultural Property). Allison Davis, CPAC’s State Department Executive Director, and Catherine Foster, a Cultural Heritage Center staffer, were also present.
In advance of this meeting, there was a major shake-up on CPAC. The following Obama appointees were removed
or resigned: (1) Adele
Chatfield-Taylor (Public); (2) James Reep (Public); and (3) Lothar Von
Falkenhausen (Archaeology). At the
last CPAC public session to discuss a renewal the MOU with Italy, von
Falkenhausen told ancient coin collectors (who were represented at the meeting)
that he believed that they should take up another hobby. It is unclear if this comment had anything to
do with his departure. President Trump
appointed Messrs. Bledsoe and Demming to replace Ms. Chatfield-Taylor and Mr.
Reep. One archaeological slot remains
unfilled.
Chairman
Passantino welcomed the speakers. He indicated that the Committee
had read all the comments, and that given the large number of speakers, each
would only be allowed 3 minutes to focus on points most important to them. Chairman Passantino called on speakers who had
put in papers on Nigeria first, then speakers who had written about Bolivia,
and finally Greece. There was some
overlap because some speakers put in papers on more than one topic. He deferred questions to the end to be
assured everyone who registered to speak would be heard.
The following individuals
provided public comments: (1) Tess Davis (Antiquities Coalition); (2)
Brian Daniels (Archaeological Institute of America); (3) Kathleen Bickford
(Northwestern University); (4) Leslye Amede Obiora (Institute for Research on African Women, Children and
Culture); (5) Kate FitzGibbon (Committee for Cultural Policy); (6) Donna Yates
(Maastricht University); (7) Maria Bruno (Dickinson College); (8) Kris Lane
(Tulane University); (9) Daniel Sedwick (International Association of
Professional Numismatists); (10) Peter Tompa (Global Heritage Alliance); (11) Christos Tsirogiannis
(University of Aarhus, Denmark); (12) Kim Shelton (Berkley); (13) Nathan Elkins
(Baylor University); (14) Ute Wartenberg-Kagan (Columbia University); (15)
Morag Kersel (DePaul University); (16) Dmitry Narkesis (Columbia University); (17)
Rocco Dibenedetto (Hahn Loeser- Association of Art Museum Directors); (18)
Douglas Mudd (American Numismatic Association); and (19) Randolph Myers (Ancient
Coin Collectors Guild).
Tess Davis (TD) indicates that the Antiquities Coalition works with
partners in the art market, the U.S. Government and Foreign Governments. She believes import restrictions help protect
the legitimate market. She denies that
import restrictions act as embargoes because they allow listed material into
the country that has been documented as being outside the country for which
restrictions were provided before those restrictions went into place. She also believes that U.S. customs should
not accept export certificates from other EU governments where objects have
been listed for specific EU countries like Greece. She notes certain EU countries do require
export permits within the EU despite the general free circulation of goods within
the EU.
The
Antiquities Coalition’s written comments can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2020-0036-0077 (Bolivia)
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2020-0036-0080 (Greece)
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2020-0036-0076 (Nigeria)
Brian Daniels (BD) focuses on the Fourth Determination under the
Cultural Property Implementation Act (“CPIA”), regarding the international
exchange of cultural patrimony. He notes
that Nigeria has sent several exhibits to the United States. Most recently, the Block Museum of Art at
Northwestern University (Greater Chicago) hosted the 2019 exhibition, Caravans
of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan
Africa, which displayed the scope of Saharan trade and the shared history of West
Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe from the eighth to sixteenth
centuries. This exhibition involved significant loans from Nigeria. It was
slated to travel to the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
(Washington, D.C.) in 2020, but its opening has been postponed due to COVID-19. He indicates that both Bolivia and Greece
have been similarly generous in sending exhibitions to the United States.
The
Archaeological Institute of America’s written comments can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2020-0036-0083
Kathleen Bickford (KB) discusses
her role as curator for the Caravans of Gold exhibit for the Block Museum of
Art at Northwestern University. She
states Nigeria's request meets all criteria for determinations in favor of
cultural property protections. Important cultural patrimony, ranging from
fragments to complete objects, continue to emerge from archaeological sites
within the country, while objects of more recent date remain within communities
and at royal courts, as well as in homes, shrines, and storehouses. These
objects are under severe threat from pillage and theft. Despite efforts to
curtail the international market for archaeological and traditional objects
from Nigeria, including tighter requirements on provenance among North American
museums and accelerating debates about the restitution of African objects from
the colonial period, there continues to be a high demand in the international
art market for cultural heritage objects from Nigeria. She also indicates
there are many fakes on the market.
Finally, she notes that there is much violence in Nigeria and that
cultural heritage is a unifying force.
KB’s
written comments can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2020-0036-0046
Leslye Amede Obiora (LAO) has been a Professor of Law in
the United States since 1992. She
previously served as the Minister of Mines and Steel Development for the
Federal Republic of Nigeria. She states
cultural heritage issues are human rights issues. LAO indicates there is a
cabal of powerful people involved in looting in Nigeria. She believes a MOU
will help bolster civil society, and she wonders why it has taken so long for
the United States to offer one to Nigeria.
Kate FitzGibbon (KFG) indicates that the Committee for Cultural Policy and
Global Heritage Alliance applaud efforts to help Nigeria address looting, but
question whether sufficient evidence has been submitted to support entering
into a MOU. There are many Nigerian
materials on the market and in private and museum collections, but the vast majority
of these materials left Nigeria decades ago.
Most of this material was removed during the colonial era. Material produced after 1945 is considered
touristic in nature. There is little in
the record about Nigerian self-help measures.
KG is concerned that this request is about closing the barn door after
the horses have already left.
The CCP’s and GHA’s written comments on the
Nigerian MOU may be found here: https://culturalpropertynews.org/nigeria-support-cultural-expansion-not-art-blockade/
The CCP’s written comments about the Greek MOU can be found here:
https://beta.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2020-0036-0075
Donna Yates (DY) indicates that she has tracked illicit Colonial and
Republican era Bolivian artifacts. She indicates that while there appears to be
less thefts from churches now, it takes years for this material to surface on
the market. DY also indicates there is
absolutely no social, educational, or scientific benefit to allowing a market
for illegally obtained Bolivian cultural objects to exist in the United States.
The destruction of the original contexts of these objects in the looting
process annihilates our ability to conduct any meaningful archaeological
analysis on them. The violent removal of sacred art from churches tears the
very fabric that has held small and indigenous communities together for
centuries, reducing cultural diversity and survival.
DY’s
written comments can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2020-0036-0010
Maria Bruno (MB) states that Bolivian patrimony remains in jeopardy
from pillage through the illicit excavation of archaeological sites with the
purpose of selling desired objects. Bolivian governmental and volunteer
organizations work tirelessly to protect archaeological sites from destruction
and to educate the public on the value of preserving their ancient past. Local communities also work together to
protect their local patrimony from destruction as the revenue generated from
tourism to the site provides jobs and contributes to the local pride.
MB’s
written comments can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2020-0036-0068
Kris Lane (KL) shares the archaeologists’ concerns about looting,
but thinks coins should be treated differently than other objects, like
historic records. While archives should
not be removed from their place of origin, items like coins were not state
property and were intended to circulate far from where they were made. This is certainly the case for coins struck
in Bolivia. The Bolivian gold escudo and
silver peso were international currencies.
They were even legal tender in the United States before the Civil
War.
Dan Sedwick (DS) indicates that IAPN supports Bolivian efforts to
restore the Potosi mint. DS provides
some history. Bolivian coins are very
common. DS has always had some in
inventory. Minting in Bolivia begins
with hand-struck silver coins in 1573-4 under Spanish dominion and continues
through early Republic times starting in 1825 to present day. Throughout these
four-and-a-half centuries of minting, most of the coins were the property of
rich men back in Spain, not the people of Bolivia, and these coins traveled far
from the current boundaries of Bolivia, in fact to all the continents of the
earth except Antarctica. DS also notes that IAPN’s submission shows that
current Bolivian laws do not explicitly treat coins as cultural heritage. As for Greece, DS states this renewal should
not be an excuse to expand current import restrictions to trade coins that circulated
around the ancient world.
The
International Association of Professional Numismatists’ and the Professional
Numismatists Guild’s written comments can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2020-0036-0067 (Bolivia)
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2020-0036-0024 (Greece)
Peter Tompa (PT) discusses both the Greek and Bolivian MOUs. First, as to the proposed renewal of the
Greek MOU, he states that this renewal is no excuse to expand current import
restrictions. Those restrictions purport to only apply to coin types
that circulated locally in Greece in order to comply with the statutory
requirements found in 19 U.S.C. § 2601. That provision requires that
such coins were “first discovered within” and are therefore subject to Greek
export controls. Under no circumstances should CPAC recommend
expanding those restrictions to widely circulating trade coins which can be
found most anywhere. Second, CPAC should
recognize the obvious ramifications of Greece’s membership in the European
Union (“E.U.”). Coins on the current designated list may be traded outside the
E.U. with or without an export license according to the local law of Greece’s
sister E.U. members. CPAC, the State Department and U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (“CBP”) should honor these E.U. export controls, which, after all,
are also binding on Greece as an E.U. member.
Finally, he urges that archaeologists be asked to do their own part
too. CPAC should ensure archaeological missions pay diggers a fair
living wage and that they be required to file site security plans which take
advantage of modern electronic surveillance technology.
PT’s
full oral statement can be found here: http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2020/10/this-is-no-time-to-expand-restrictions.html
GHA’s
written comments on the Greek MOU can be found here:
https://beta.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2020-0036-0012
GHA’s
and CCP’s written comments on the Bolivian MOU can be found here:
https://beta.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2020-0036-0011
Christos Tsirogiannis
(CT) has worked with law
enforcement, including the DA in New York City and U.S. Homeland Security, to
repatriate artifacts to Greece and other countries. He is also working on a way to detect looted
antiquities using new technology.
Recently, Greek police broke up a antiquities smuggling operation in
Patras, Greece, that had coins and other artifacts.
CT’s
written comments can be found here:
https://beta.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2020-0036-0088
Kim Shelton (KS) excavates at Nemea.
She has spent sleepless nights in fear of looters. Economic austerity has made the problem
worse. Coin evidence is important to her
work.
Nathan Elkins (NE) supports restrictions on all ancient coins that
circulated in quantity in Greece, including trade coins like Athenian
Tetradrachms, which currently are not restricted. Looting results in the loss
of important contextual information.
Coins can be important dating tools.
They helped date the ruins of an ancient Synagogue he helped excavate in
Israel.
NE’s
written comments can be found here:
https://beta.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2020-0036-0028
Ute Wartenberg-Kagan
(UWK) supports restrictions on all
ancient coins that circulated in quantity in Greece. Coins are among the most frequently looted
items. Once taken out of their archaeological context, some of the historical
and economic meaning is often lost. Sadly, numismatists are used to working
with coins that have no archaeological context, and the fact that there is a
finite number of coins in the ground makes their protection all the more
important. Unfortunately, the trend is going very much in the wrong direction,
and here modern technology enables looting on a scale that has not been seen
before. Ever more sophisticated and cheaper metal detectors allow more people
to dig up coins. Online sales via eBay, vcoins, Amazon, or in Facebook groups,
allow the sale of staggering numbers of coins. On any given day, over 100,000
ancient coins and coin lots are for sale on eBay. MOUs should be considered
friends of collectors because they help keep looted material off the market.
UWK’s
written comments can be found here:
https://beta.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2020-0036-0078
Morag Kersel (MK) says she was interviewing a collector who had a
Cyclodelic figurine which the collector said was worth $1 million. He indicated now that ancient art is an
investment. MK indicates that the high
prices for ancient art helps stimulate looting.
Dmitry Narkesis (DN) has witnessed looting at archaeological digs. Looting is real problem that impacts
archaeology. It takes a lot of time and
effort to try to fight it.
Rocco Dibenedetto (RD) states that the AAMD does not oppose the Greek MOU,
but Greece should be held to account for its obligations under Art. II of the
current agreement. One of those
undertakings is to facilitate loans of materials to U.S. museums. Despite Greece’s promises to do so, that has
not happened. The designated list should
also be scrutinized to ensure that it only covers archaeological objects over
250 years old.
The
AAMD’s written comments can be found here:
https://beta.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2020-0036-0072
Douglas Mudd (DM) states that current import restrictions have hurt
the ANA’s educational mission because foreign scholars have been unwilling to
bring their collections to the United States for fear of them being seized by
U.S. customs. Despite import
restrictions being renewed over and again, looting remains a problem which
suggests they are not working. DM states
that a new paradigm needs to be considered given their failure, one based on
Britain’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, which encourages people to report finds
with the prospect of a cash award for any coins kept by the government. While expense is an issue, perhaps aid from
wealthy countries can help get these programs going.
The
ANA’s written comments can be found here:
https://beta.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2020-0036-0023
Randolph Myers (RM) states there can be no dispute ancient coins
circulated in great numbers far from where they were found. This is detailed in a report appended to the
ACCG’s written comments. This is
significant because as recognized by a U.S. District Court import restrictions
are only appropriate on archaeological objects both first discovered within and
subject to the export control of a specific country.
The
ACCG’s written comments can be found here:
https://beta.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2020-0036-0003
Question and Answer
Period
Karol Wight
asks LAO about the situation in
Nigeria. LAO states Nigeria is under
siege, but that is no reason not to enter into a MOU on its behalf. She again suggests a MOU is a human rights
issue.
Anthony
Wisniewski asks
TD and DY if they receive foreign government money. (The State Department recently issued a
directive calling for the disclosure of such information. See https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/13/trump-think-tanks-foreign-funding-429209)
TD states that the Antiquities Coalition does not receive such
funding. DY indicates she receives such
funding from the European Union. (She currently
holds a €1.5 million European Research Council grant to study the illicit
trafficking of cultural objects.)
Anthony
Wisniewski asks
UWK if it is unremarkable that Roman or Byzantine coins from the
Thessalonica mint can be found in large numbers in today’s Turkey and Albania. She agrees with this statement.
Joan
Connelly asks KS about
what coins have been found at Nemea. KS
indicates that coins from many different Greek cities have been found there
probably because it was the center for sacred games. They also find many different coins at a
Christian sanctuary on the site.
Karol Wight
asks KB if she has had any
other interaction with Nigerian scholars outside her work on exhibits. KB says all her work has been on
exhibits.
J.D.
Demming asks DM
to elaborate on his ideas to disincentivize looting. DM states that the U.K.’s
Portable Antiquities Scheme incentivizes people to report their finds. Perhaps there can be a global antiquities
scheme with funding from richer countries.
Ricardo St.
Hilaire asks LAO about
whether she saw any parallels between looting and illegal mining. LAO says Nigeria recognized that it takes a
thief to catch a thief so it invested resources to help illicit miners become
clean. She refers to DM’s statements
about PAS and says there may be parallels.
