[meteorite-list] Warning about Lybian Desert Glass Artifacts

From: kaolinite_at_ctc.net <kaolinite_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jun 9 09:50:13 2004
Message-ID: <1086789009-kaolinite-4.smmsdV2.0.3_at_localhost>

Charles Viau wrote:

>is just a moot point, because as long as
>these LDG glass artifacts can be found
>outside of Egypt, then there is no way
>to prove when and where an item was
>actually found, unless of course you had
>your photo taken holding it up with the
>pyramids in the background...
>Un-enforceable.

I would say that you are living in a Fools Paradise.

There is only one other country, Libya where these artifacts
are found and it, like Egypt, has antiquities laws, which
prohibit the export of antiquities without permits. If a
person doesn't have the paperwork, which documents
that his Libyan desert glass artifact was exported legally,
a case can be made that the artifact was exported in
violation of either the laws of Egypt or Libya. Since
legally exported artifact are suppose to be sold with
documentation proving that they are legal, the lack of
such, even if the result of negligence on the part of the
person selling it to you failing to provide it, can be used
to argue that the Libyan desert glass artifacts are illicit.
It the owner that has to prove that an artifact was
legally exported with a documented chain-of-custody
going back to the person, who originally received the
license to exported it. If a person doesn't have the
paperwork and don't have this chain-of-custody, the
person don't have the proof that artifact is legal and
the country of origin, whether it be Egypt or Libya
can reclaim it.

Given that Libya has now reinvented itself as a "respectable"
member of the United Nations. It can start worrying about
recovering its antiquities as Egypt is doing. The main thing
about the Libyan desert glass artifacts is their low profile
and insignificance relative to other artifacts makes them
low on the priority list / radar screens of either Libya and
Egypt. But in time that might change.

In case of Morocco, given that archaeologists haven't
documented any Libyan desert glass artifacts as having
been found in it, any Libyan desert glass artifacts that
were bought in it can be argued to have been illegally
imported into it from either Egypt or Libya unless the
person, from whom it was bought has the paperwork
indicating that it was legally imported into Morocco.
At that time, a person might have to get export permits
to export them again from Morocco.

Just Some Thoughts

Keith
Louisiana
Received on Wed 09 Jun 2004 09:50:09 AM PDT