On October 27, 2026, the US Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) met in a virtual public session to accept comments regarding proposed Cultural Property Agreement renewals with Cyprus, Guatemala and Peru. Questions from CPAC members again drove home the feeling that as far as the Committee was concerned protecting archaeological context takes precedence over protecting the due process and private property rights of collectors even for lawful exports from Cyprus’ sister European Union (EU) Member states.
The State Department described these renewals with Cyprus
and Peru as follows:
Cyprus
Extending the Cyprus
Agreement would continue import restrictions on categories of
archaeological material ranging in date from approximately the 11th millennium
B.C. to A.D. 1770, and ethnological material ranging in date from approximately
the fourth century A.D. to A.D. 1878.
Peru
Extending the Peru
Agreement would continue import restrictions on categories of
archaeological material ranging in date from approximately 12,000 B.C. to A.D.
1532, and ethnological material dating to the colonial period (A.D. 1532 to
1821).
No information was provided about the renewal with
Guatemala.
See https://www.state.gov/cultural-property-advisory-committee-meeting-october-27-29-2026
(last visited November 4, 2026).
The meeting was conducted entirely on Zoom. None
of the CPAC or State Department staff other than CPAC’s Chair identified
themselves, so it was difficult to confirm who attended the meeting, except
where members themselves spoke.
Currently, CPAC has the following members (all Biden
holdovers): (1) Alexandra Jones (Chair,
Represents/Expertise Archaeology, Anthropology, related fields, CEO Archaeology
in the Community, Washington, DC); (2) Alex Barker (Represents/Expertise
Archaeology, Anthropology, related fields) Director, Arkansas Archeological
Survey, Arkansas); (3) Miriam Stark, Represents/Expertise Archaeology,
Anthropology, related fields, Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawaii);
(4) Nii Otokunor Quarcoopome (Represents/Expertise Museums, Curator and
Department head, Detroit Museum of Art); ( (5) Andrew Conners
(Represents/Expertise Museums, Director, Albuquerque Museum, New Mexico); (6)
Michael Findlay (Represents/Expertise: International Sale of Cultural Property,
Director, Acquavella Galleries, New York) and; (7) Cynthia Herbert
(Represents/Expertise: International Sale of Cultural Property President,
Appretium Appraisal Services LLC, Connecticut); (8) Amy Cappellazzo,
Represents/Expertise: International Sale of Cultural Property, Principal, Art
Intelligence Global; (9) Thomas R. Lamont (Represents Public, President of
Lamont Consulting Services, LLC, Illinois); (10) Susan Schoenfeld
Harrington (Represents Public, Past Deputy Finance Chair, Democratic
National Committee, Past Board member, China Art Foundation); and, (11) William
Teitelman (Represents General Public, Legislative Counsel to the PA Trial
Lawyers Association, Attorney (Retired)).
The Chair, Alexandra Jones, welcomed the
speakers. She thanked the speakers for attending and then indicated
that speakers should try to limit themselves to 5 minutes and given the number
of presenters.
Peter Tompa spoke first as the Executive Director of the
International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN). Tompa
indicated that “due process” requires a major reset of current import
restrictions on coins. He first
recounted his experience advocating for coin collectors before CPAC starting with
Cyprus’ initial request for import restrictions back in 1998. After this initial hearing and another
renewal coins were exempted. However,
according to CPAC’s chairman at the time as well as a CPAC member representing
the trade, when the issue came up again in 2007, the State Department rejected
CPAC’s recommendations against including coins and then misled the public about
CPAC’s true recommendations in official government reports. Tompa further indicated that the one Court
asked to address this injustice refused to do so, instead ruling that the issue
was not subject to judicial review as a “foreign policy matter.” Even worse, this decision carried over to a
related forfeiture action where the Court even precluded the use of expert
testimony to rebut the presumption that the coins that were seized were
“Cypriot cultural property.” Considering a recent NY Appellate Court
decision holding that collectors are entitled to “due process” before their
cultural goods are seized, Tompa requested CPAC to seek a reset of current restrictions,
so they only apply to coins traced directly to Cyprus. He further requested CPAC to endorse less
drastic measures including recognizing legal exports from Cyprus’ sister EU countries
and applying protections found in the Administrative Procedure Act and Civil
Asset Forfeiture to import restrictions on cultural goods.
Here are IAPN’s written comments.
Cyprus: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0010
Guatemala: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0008
Peru: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0009
IAPN’s oral comments can be found here: https://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2026/10/due-process-demands-reset-of-current.html
Tompa’s personal comments can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0028
Yasha Bykhovsky, a coin dealer, cultural heritage advocate
and art history student at U Mass Amhurst spoke next. He asked for revisions to the Cypriot import
restrictions on coins. Specifically, he
asked that they recognize that coins made in Cyprus are not necessarily found
in Cyprus. He noted that ancient coins spread like US $1 bills today. He also noted coins struck in Guatemala and
Peru circulated widely as well and even served as legal tender in the US before
1857. He acknowledged that cultural
heritage preservation is an important goal, but it must be balanced with
protecting lawful trade.
CPAC member Alex Barker questioned Bykhovsky about his
views. Bykhovsky indicated that coins
legally exported from Germany, a fellow email member to Cyprus, should be
treated differently than coins exported from elsewhere. He indicated that we should help Cyprus, but
not to the extreme of ignoring EU regulations.
CPAC member Miriam Stark asked Bykhovksy whether he believed
unprovenanced coins should be allowed to be imported into the US. Bykhovsky replied that he believes recording
provenance is important, but many coins simply lack it.
Dr. Ömür Harmanşah spoke as the Vice President for
Cultural Heritage, Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). He
first provided background about the organization. The AIA currently
has 150,000 members, a figure that includes not only professional
archaeologists, but others interested in archaeology, including subscribers to
the AIA’s magazine. The AIA supports all three Cultural
Property Agreements (CPAs), but he focused his comments on Cyprus.
He indicated that Cyprus was an important center of the copper trade in ancient
times and archaeology has been instrumental in uncovering evidence of trading
relationships. In the past, there have
been important exhibits of Cypriot objects in the US. There is a long history of
collaboration. The Cyprus American
Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) has been instrumental in this
regard. Research of auction sales of
undocumented Cypriot artifacts during the period 1998-2006 suggests evidence of
looting that the CPA has addressed.
Here are links to the AIA’s written comments.
Cyprus: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0126
Guatemala: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0125
Peru: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0123
Sonja Rapcanova spoke for CINOA. She indicated that CINOA, founded in 1935, is
an international confederation of professional art and antiques dealer organizations
across Europe, North America and Australia, collectively representing
approximately 5,000 businesses. She further
indicated that the professional art trade is not separate from the protection
and preservation of cultural heritage, but rather is part of it. She further noted that dealers do far more
than facilitate transactions. They research objects, investigate their
provenance, contribute specialist knowledge and help bring works of historical
and cultural significance into public collections. She specifically asked CPAC to reevaluate
current blanket restrictions because categories of diverse objects should not
be necessarily treated the same. She
also indicated that there should be a reassessment of import restrictions
imposed on legal exports from the EU given Cyprus’ membership in that trade
group. She noted that CINOA's
objective is not to weaken cultural heritage protection, but to ensure that
restrictions remain evidence-based, appropriately targeted and workable in
practice.
CINOA’s written comments can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0098
Arthur Needham is a numismatic researcher who is a visiting
Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Numismatic Society. He is a coauthor of the Coins of India book
series and an expert on the use of coinage along the Silk Road. He drew on that experience to educate the
Committee about how coins circulated in the millions throughout the ancient
world based on their intrinsic value. He
has personally recorded Byzantine and Roman coins in India. He also questioned the use of ancient coins as
dating tools for archaeologists because they circulated for 100s of years.
CPAC member Alex Barker challenged Needham about the
importance of coins as archaeological objects.
CPAC member Miriam Stark asked Needham about his work with the
Archaeological Survey of India and how it meshed with India’s strong cultural
heritage laws. She also questioned why
other work was not undertaken under official auspices. CPAC member Teitelman also debated Neeham
about the importance of coins as archaeological objects.
Tom Landvatter is an archaeologist who excavates in Vigla in
Cyprus. He emphasized the importance of
including coins in import restrictions because he maintained that they were
critical for dating purposes. He argued that coins found at his site helped understand
the site’s use by mercenaries associated with Alexander the Great. CPAC member Teitelman complimented Landvetter
on his explanation of the importance of coin finds. [CPO Note- It is unclear why less drastic
measures like better site security in the long off season and effective regulation
of metal detectors is not considered first to protect archaeological sites.]
Landvetter’s written comments can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0063
Andrew Vaughn next spoke as the Executive Director of the
American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR). Vaugh discussed ASOR’s collaboration with the
Cypriot Department of Antiquities and maintained that the renewal of the CPA
was critical to both the US and Cyprus.
Dr. David Soren conducted archaeological excavations in
Kourion, Cyprus, in the 1970s and 1980s.
He recalled that during that time coins and pottery were targets of
looters. He also recalled being shown a
room of looted material by Cypriot authorities which made him want to cry.
Mike Festa spoke on behalf of the Ancient Coin Collectors
Guild (ACCG). He joked that as the
former head of the AARP in Massachusetts he was happy to see so many potential
AARP members on the Zoom call. He
acknowledged the importance of protecting archaeological strata but also
indicated that this goal should not take precedence over protecting the due
process rights collectors. He elaborated
that it was unfair to seize coins based on their type alone and then leave it
to collectors to try to prove the negative that their coins were legitimate. This
does not help archaeology. Instead, it
just hurts innocent collectors. This is particularly true for coins and other
artifacts legally exported from Europe.
The ACCG’s written comments can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0026
Mike Festa’s personal comments can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0027
Kathryn Grossman is an associate professor of anthropology
at North Carolina State University. She
is the Director of the Makounta-Voules Archaeological Project, an excavation
project and field school located in western Cyprus. During her time in Cyprus,
she saw looting firsthand at pit burials where looters were looking for small
statuary used as offerings. In one
looter’s pit she found fragments of a modern work glove.
Professor Grossman’s written testimony can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0049
Lindy Crewe spoke as the Director of the Cyprus American Archaeological
Research Institute (CAARI). CAARI was
the only archaeological research Center to be established following the Turkish
invasion of the northern part of the Island.
The CPA is important to protect against looting, particularly from that
part of the Island under Cypriot control.
CAARI’s written comments can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0052
Barbara Arroyo is an archaeologist specializing in the
Pre-Columbian Indigenous societies of Southern Mesoamerica. She has conducted research on the Pacific
Coast of Chiapas, Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador and is currently
associated with the University of Chicago.
Arroyo expressed concern about looting by indigenous people as part of
land grabs. She also indicated that a
change in Guatemalan law has facilitated looting. Finally, she described a case where a
collector returned a lintel to Mexico which more properly belonged to
Guatemala. Guatemalan authorities have
been unsuccessful in gaining its return from Mexico.
Arroyo’s written testimony can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0105
Markus Erbel is an archaeologist who excavates in Guatemala
for Vanderbilt University. Looting, pillage, illegal excavations, and
illicit trafficking are a pervasive threat to Guatemala’s patrimony. These go
hand in hand with agricultural activities. Erbel has been involved in trying to
protect sites in Guatemala by coordinating with the military to monitor his
site during the long off season. It is important to engage local
communities. He noted that Guatemalan
textbooks for students do not cover the Maya.
Erbel’s written testimony can be found here:
https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2026-1058-0097
The Chair allows additional questions. CPAC member Miriam Stark askes Lindy Crewe of
CAARI about looting in Cyprus. Crewe
indicated metal detectors were used to seek out coins. Metal detectors are only supposed to be used
on beaches under Cypriot law, but they are frequently used elsewhere. Folk tales about buried gold are an incentive.
The Chair then ended the public portion of the hearing,
thanking the speakers for their time.
