Credit: Antiquity (2023)
Posted on 07/29/2023 9:34:34 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
New research has confirmed that the commonly repeated statement that the illicit antiquities trade is the third largest illicit trade in the world is unsupported by evidence.
This factoid has been in circulation since the 1970s, and is regularly repeated in academic articles, popular press and even policy literature.
As such, it has largely been accepted to be true by scholars, the general public and legislative bodies.
"The claim that the illicit trade in antiquities is the third largest, second only to arms and narcotics, is widely repeated," state the authors, but "the claim is not based on any original research or statistics, and it does not originate with any competent authorities."
To uncover the origins of this factoid, Drs Donna Yates and Neil Brodie, from the Trafficking Culture research group, carried out a systematic examination of literature relating to the claim. Their results are published in the journal Antiquity.
The authors traced the factoid back to a note in the Journal of Field Archaeology from 1974, in which it was claimed that international traffic in art was second only to narcotics. Even though that statement was not substantiated with any evidence, it was quickly repeated by others.
By the 1980s, this factoid was embedded in the academic literature and in the popular press. It later transitioned from being listed as the second to the third largest field of international crime after narcotics and arms—again with no evidence.
Importantly, the claim has since been made by influential international organizations such as UNESCO and Interpol. As a result, it has had an impact on governmental organizations and policy makers.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
IOW, the fake number was all about grinding political axes, and I omitted the apologia the researchers included as part of their own agenda.
From a common sense perspective, the illicit antiquities trade sure doesn’t seem to be anywhere near that of drugs or weapons.
It seems impossible to ignore, however—given the prominence of the topic of human trafficking—the idea that the art industry has been linked with human trafficking.
That is to say, art museums and art dealers are known to be historically involved in human trafficking, including the nightmare of child sex trafficking.
I’d be surprised if streaming media isn’t bigger than the underground antiquities trade, and by a factor of ten or more.
Getting items out of war torn countries has been a stroke of good luck.
grinding political axes?..........Flint, Bronze or Iron?.............
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