Smuggled artefact problems - the Getty and elsewhere

http://tinyurl.com/8lggk

"The Getty case is just a slice of an illicit global trade in antiquities that stretches from the Egyptian desert to Chinese tombs to Peruvian monuments, and pulls in some of the most- respected names in art and academia". An article looking not only at the recent dramas at the Getty, whose curator goes on trial later this month, but at the incidence of smuggled items in other U.S. museums and the efforts of nations to protect themselves against smuggling. Egypt's high-profile efforts receive some attention: "In the three years since Hawass took over, Egypt has recovered 2,000 objects from overseas, mostly from auction houses and dealers". This Bloomberg article is long and rather fragmented, but there is interesting information scattered within it.

http://tinyurl.com/clwgx

In another article, from Science Daily: " Italian investigators say some antiquities in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and a major private collection were illegally excavated and exported".