The exploitation of archaeological sites for commercial gain is a serious problem worldwide. In peace and during wartime archaeological sites and cultural institutions, both on land and underwater, are attacked and their contents robbed for sale on an international 'antiquities' market. Objects are excavated without record, smuggled across borders and sold for exorbitant prices in the salesrooms of Europe and North America. In some countries this looting has now reached such a scale as to threaten the very survival of their archaeological and cultural heritage. This volume highlights the deleterious effects of the trade on cultural heritage, but in particular it focuses upon questions of legal and local responses: How can people become involved in the preservation of their past and what, in economic terms, are the costs and benefits? Are international conventions or export restrictions effective in diminishing the volume of the trade and the scale of its associated destruction?

The illicit antiquities market is fueled by a well-documented rise in looting at archaeological sites and a fear that the proceeds of such looting may be financing terrorism or rogue states. In this report, the authors compile evidence from numerous open sources to outline the major policy-relevant characteristics of that market and to propose the way forward for developing policies intended to disrupt illicit networks.

All over the world archaeological sites are being looted to feed an ever-expanding antiquities market. The phenomenon has been well-documented, by journalists and TV documentaries as much as by academic study, but it true scale remains a matter for conjecture. With this in mind in October 1999 the McDonald Institute convened an international symposium of archaeologists and other interested parties, which allowed them to give accounts of looting in their own countries, share their experiences, and to consider possible remedies or preventative measures. The proceedings of the Symposium are now published in this volume.

Legal, Ethical and Conservation issues concerning the trade in antiquities.

The world's archaeological heritage is under threat. Many antiquities appear on the art market where they are being bought by museums and collectors. Review of the situation.

With the intention of integrating the archaeology of the Mediterranean's different regions, the annual SOMA conference was held in 2003 at the Institute of Archaeology. These thirty-two papers, which form the proceedings, are multi-disciplinary and consider evidence and sites from the Pleistocene through to Late Antiquity.