Following neatly on from the review of Craig Childs’s book on looting of Native American sites, one of the dealers caught for involvement in the Four Corners bust last year is taking a plea deal at his trial.

From:
Salt Lake Tribune

Key player in artifacts theft taking plea deal
By Paul Foy – The Associated Press
Published Sep 27, 2010 01:38PM

A Southwest antiquities dealer who was forced to surrender five truckloads of American Indian relics to federal agents is expected to settle charges of digging up a grave and plundering artifacts from federal lands, his defense lawyer has revealed in court papers.

Durango, Colo., artifacts dealer Carl “Vern” Crites was one of the biggest players in a Four Corners bust of artifact trafficking that led to charges against 26 defendants last year.
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A new book by Craig Childs looks at looting of Archaeological sites – particularly Native American ones in the USA.

From:
Salt Lake Tribune

Author digs for answers in Four Corners artifacts looting raid
By Ben Fulton
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Sep 25, 2010 07:54PM
Updated Sep 25, 2010 07:51PM

A flood of thoughts entered Craig Childs’ head long before he wrote page one of his new book about archaeological plunder and preservation.

Memories of hunting for rocks in the Four Corners area with his then-3-year-old son were foremost among them.
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Throughout history, there have been many cases where items of cultural property have been taken from their original owners & often put on public display. In recent years though, public opinion on this type of practice has changed, with more laws & regulations to try & prevent this from happening.

From:
Salt Lake Tribune

Ancient artifacts slowly gaining protection – and it’s about time
By Pat Bagley
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/27/2009 04:53:22 PM MDT

In 1802, Lord Elgin began stripping a good chunk of Greece’s cultural heritage to decorate his Scottish estate.

Two hundred years ago, the Ottoman Empire embraced the Middle East and southeastern Europe, including Greece. As British ambassador to the Sublime Porte (the Ottoman seat of the Sultan in Istanbul), Elgin admired the ancient statuary and friezes that adorned the Acropolis in Athens. He liked them so much he prevailed on the Turks to let him have them (the proper palms being greased along the way, of course).
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