[meteorite-list] Legality of Libyan Desert Glass Artifacts Discussion Continued

From: David Freeman <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jun 11 12:19:51 2004
Message-ID: <40C9DBA7.4050200_at_fascination.com>

Dear List,
I couldn't not chime in, so suppose there are any hungry people in
Africa that would rather have a nice thick juicy sandwich or a bowl of
rice soup over a chip of desert glass that some call artifactual?
 I am sure wives have been purchased with the proceeds from
NWA's..............lest we forget reality here boys!
Academia reverting to macadamia should be the new thread
title.................think?
Dave Freeman
Exporting fossil wood to the world.

kaolinite_at_ctc.net wrote:

>This has been a quite revealing discussion.
>
>For example, Nicholas Gessler on Thu
>Jun 10 21:18:25 EDT 2004 stated:
>
>"Don't we have better things to worry about than
>whether Libya is going to spend $100s or $1000s
>to repatriate EACH chip, flake or blade of Libyan
>Desert Glass?" at:
>
>In a similar vein, Mr. Charles Viau on
>Thu Jun 10 21:18:25 EDT 2004 stated:
>
>"Nah, Sounds scary, but still un-enforceable."
>
>In both posts, the comments of the authors, can
>be condensed to "...it may be illegal, but so what?..."
>and "It may be illegal, but since I can't be
>prosecuted, so why worry?" I don't know about Mr.
>Gessler and Mr. Charles Viau, this is certainly a
>morally and ethically bankrupt position to take.
>What both of you are saying is that violating the
>laws of another country and participating in the
>looting of the their cultural heritage is alright
>as long as he or she doesn't get caught either
>buying or selling the stolen goods. (If someone
>stole the car stereo or tires from either Nicholas
>Gessler or Charles Viau, I would regard it as
>morally wrong for me buy them even if I knew that
>I wouldn't get caught and prosecuted for buying
>stolen property.)
>
>Would either Mr. Charles Viau and Nicholas Gessler
>be happy if Americans were stealing petrified wood
>from Petrified Forest National Park and selling
>it to Russians and French dealers to sell to people
>in these countries? It be any more legal or ethical
>for tthe buyers to excuse this practice because it was
>"un-enforceable" or because the American government
>wouldn't spend $100s or $1000s to track down and
>repatriate each piece of petrified wood?
>
>An archaeologist that I talked to had these comments
>about what Mr. Charles Viau had to say in one of his
>posts that shared with him.
>
>1. "I think that this is fundamentally
>an unethical approach."
>
>2. "In answer to the first question,
>export of antiquities made of Libyan
>Desert Glass from Egypt without a
>specific permit would indeed be illegal.
>You might note as well that Libya,
>Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco have similar
>types of antiquities legislation as are
>as far as I know also signatories to the
>relevant international conventions."
>
>(Export of anything from Libya without a
>permit from the U.S. Customs Service is
>also illegal because trade with it is
>still embargoed because of its status as
>a state sponsor of terrorism.)
>
>and
>
>"The illegal export of cultural properties
>is a serious issue world-wide, and it is
>gravely damaging the cultural heritage of
>a lot of countries. I would hope that
>members of your list wouldn't get involved
>in it -- and if they are, I hope that they
>get caught."
>
>Also, the same archaeologist indicated in a private email
>that Mr. Charles Viau completely misstated the facts
>about the distribution of Libyan Desert Glass artifacts
>when he stated:
>
>"It's not just Libya and Egypt, since that
>stuff has been bartered all over the
>Mediterranean for hundreds of years."
>
>This is a completely false statement. Except for the
>scarab in King Tutankhamen's breastplate, Libyan
>Desert Glass artifacts haven't been found far outside
>the area of the natural strewn field of Libyan Desert
>Glass. What Mr. Charles Viau stated sounds to me like
>fiction invented and told his customers by a creative
>artifact dealer to hide the fact that his artifacts
>were illegally exported from either Egypt or Lybia.
>
>Finally, some people are not above blaming the victim
>for the crime, as stated in:
>
>http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2004-June/141736.html
>
>In this post, mark ford markf_at_ssl.gb.com on Fri Jun 11
>03:59:05 EDT 2004 stated:
>
>"One might also take the cynical view, that if
>that part of the world looked after its
>antiquities better, there would be less chance
>for antiquities to go missing in the first place...
>and it's not about lack of money, a fence around
>a monument costs next to nothing."
>
>If Mr. Ford would take the time to investigate the matter,
>it is very hard to build a fence around an area of 6500
>square kilometer. in fact, the looting of archaeological
>sites by people in that area was one of the major reasons
>that the part of western Egypt has been closed to everyone.
>
>Best Regards,
>
>Keith Littleton
>St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
>
>
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>
Received on Fri 11 Jun 2004 12:19:51 PM PDT