Christopher Chippindale

Material consequences of contemporary classical collecting

The nature of contemporary classical collecting is explored by studying seven celebrated new collections and exhibitions. The concept of provenance is defined in terms of an objects origins, or findspot, and its modern story, or history. The several hundred objects in these collections are analyzed in terms of their findspot and history since unearthing. These show that the dismaying picture previously demonstrated for Cycladic antiquities applies to classical objects across the board : the overwhelming majority have no declared or credible findspots and simply surface as orphans without history. Some of the many material aspects of this central fact are explored.

Australia's Ancient Warriors: Changing Depictions of Fighting in the Rock Art of Arnhem Land, N.T.

Depictions of battle scenes, skirmishes and hand-to-hand combat are rare in hunter-gatherer art and when they do occur most often result from contact with agriculturalist or industrialized invaders. In the Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia we have been documenting rare depictions of fighting and are able to show that there has been a long tradition of warrior art. At least three phases have been identified and in each of them groups of hunter-gatherers are shown in combat. The oldest are at least 10,000 years old, and constitute the most ancient depictions of fighting from anywhere in the world, while the newest were produced as recently as early this century. Significantly, a pronounced change in the arrangement of figures began with the second, middle phase — beginning perhaps about 6000 years ago. This appears to be associated with increased social complexity and the development of the highly complicated kinship relationships that persist in Arnhem Land today. Evidence from physical anthropological, archaeological and linguistic studies supports the idea of the early development of a highly organized society of the type more commonly associated with agriculturalists or horticulturalists.

Repainting of images on rock in Australia and the maintenance of Aboriginal culture

Sandra Bowdler reported in the last issue of A NTIQUITY (62: 517–23) on the controversy surrounding the recent repainting of Wandjina figures on the rocks of the western Kimberley, northwest Australia. Here is an Aboriginal Australians view of the repainting project and its significance, along with an explication and further discussion of implications.

Visions of Dynamic Power: Archaic Rock-paintings, Altered States of Consciousness and 'Clever Men' in Western Arnhem Land (NT), Australia

The Dynamic figures are a distinctive component in the earlier rock-art of western Arnhem Land, north Australia. They include therianthropic (hybrid human–animal) images. Recent vision experience ethnographically known in the region, and the wider pattern of Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) in hunter-gatherer societies, are consistent with elements of the Dynamics. One key feature is the use of dots and dashes in the Dynamic images, explicable as a depiction of some intangible power, of a character comparable with that in the ‘clever men’s knowledge’ of modern Arnhem Land. Tropical Australia thereby is added to the number of regions where a visionary element is identified in rock-art; the specific circumstances in Arnhem Land, permitting the use together of formal and of informed methods, provide unusually strong evidence.

From Boston to Rome: Reflections on Returning Antiquities

The return of 13 classical antiquities from Bostons Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) to Italy provides a glimpse into a major museums acquisition patterns from 1971 to 1999. Evidence emerging during the trial of Marion True and Robert E. Hecht Jr. in Rome is allowing the Italian authorities to identify antiquities that have been removed from their archaeological contexts by illicit digging. Key dealers and galleries are identified, and with them other objects that have followed the same route. The fabrication of old collections to hide the recent surfacing of antiquities is also explored. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors are grateful to the following for their assistance during the writing of this paper: Malcolm Bell, Ann Copeland (La Trobe University), Tracey Cullen, Colin Hope (Monash University), Andrew Jamieson (University of Melbourne), Ian MacPhee (La Trobe University), Jessica Powers (San Antonio Museum of Art), Sonia Puttock (University of Queensland), Peter Watson, and Karol Wight (The J. Paul Getty Museum).

Stoned Henge: Events and issues at the summer solstice, 1985

Abstract Indigenous ethnic groups are securing an increasing control over archaeological remains in many parts of the world. European archaeologists, who face no such claims, may feel archaeological interests have given way to non‐scientific pressures. Stonehenge is one European site which presents comparable and intractable problems, as claims to Europes premier prehistoric site encompass neo‐Druids, ‘alternative’ archaeologists, and a full‐scale rock festival ‐ each disputing professional archaeological understanding of, and authority over, the site. The events of summer 1985 are described, when these competing claims led to a physical ‘Battle of Stonehenge’. Their context and background are set out, together with the issues the battle raised, many of them quite alien to archaeological concerns. A possible resolution of the conflict is explored, in which the scientific authority of archaeological research will not be asserted to the exclusion of other attitudes to the past. The intellectual cost of thi...

The Trade in Looted Antiquities and the Return of Cultural Property: A British Parliamentary Inquiry

The British parliamentary report on Cultural Property: Return and Illicit Trade was published in 2000. Three key areas were addressed: the illicit excavation and looting of antiquities, the identification of works of art looted by Nazis, and the return of cultural property now residing in British collections. The evidence presented by interested parties—including law enforcement agencies and dealers in antiquities—to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee is assessed against the analysis of collecting patterns for antiquities. The lack of self regulation by those involved in the antiquities market supports the view that the British Government needs to adopt more stringent legislation to combat the destruction of archaeological sites by looting.

The Invention of Words for the Idea of ‘Prehistory’

The standard recent authorities on the history of archaeology date the invention of a specific word for prehistory to 1833, saying that Paul Tournal of Narbonne used the adjective prehistorique (‘prehistoric’ in the English translation in Heizer 1969, 91; and in Daniel 1967, 25, following Heizer 1962) or the noun prehistoire (Daniel 1981,48) in an article about French bone-caves. This is not true. The word Tournal used was antehistorique (Tournal 1833, 175), and the mistake has arisen from working with an idiomatic translation into English, which rendered ‘ ante-historique ’ as ‘prehistoric’ (Tournal [1959]) instead of the original French. (Grayson 1983, 102., however, quotes Tournals original French correctly.) The earliest use of ‘prehistoric’ seems to be Daniel Wilsons of 1851 in The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland (1851), as the older histories of archaeology say (eg Daniel 1950, 86 (reprinted in Daniel 1975, 86); Daniel 1962, 9), before the error about Tournal began to circulate.

South Italian Pottery in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Acquired Since 1983

Abstract The 2006 deaccessioning of antiquities from the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, for return to Italy drew attention to the networks allowing objects to be sold on the market. This case study analyzes 13 South Italian pots (Apulian and Paestan) acquired by the MFA since its revised accessions policy of 1983. Only three appear to have documentation showing that they were known prior to 1970, and another three were part of the 2006 return. The remaining pots are associated with restorers and dealers who have been linked to the trade in recently surfaced antiquities. This suggests that museums need to adopt more rigorous policies to ensure that they do not acquire antiquities that may have been removed illegally from archaeological sites.

Managing for Effective Archaeological Conservation: The Example of Salisbury Plain Military Training Area, England

AbstractSalisbury Plain Military Training Area, Wiltshire, England is the major zone of southern Engizsh chalk downland where archaeological field monuments are comparatively well preserved over large areas. The land is currently managed with regard to military considerations, to its secondary use for forming, and to conservation concerns. Following expressions of concern about archaeological damage, a working party was set up to evaluate the present state of archaeological survival and to recommend for the future. A survey of all sites evaluated their condition by means of a scoring system. Recommendations were made about military use, agriculture, and controlling natural agencies of destruction; and a solution was offered that incorporated eight elements of strategy. The Salisbury Plain study is considered in its context—the English national policy that there should be an archaeological stock-taking of what we have, and a scoring system to make possible some rational choice in selecting from it what is ...