03-09-2016, 12:53 PM
(03-09-2016, 12:41 PM)Renatus Wrote: Destroying the item is cutting off your nose to spite your face. The looter doesn't care; he has got the money. The buyer doesn't care; he has lost anyway. The only person who cares is the academic, the very one for whom you would want to preserve the object, because he cannot make use of it to extract whatever knowledge it may still be able to provide.
No. This excuse has been used a lot, and not just where it concerns looting ("Oh, well, yes, they did destroy ancient mummy masks. But look at the great new papyri we have now!"). If you want to send a clear message that everything that you do with ancient objects SHOULD be legal and above board, then destroying any objects that are illegal is the only way.
But I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this, and it's all moot anyway, as what I would prefer hasn't been turned into law anyway (and likely won't because of the excuse that you and others use).
