{"id":117224,"date":"2013-12-27T05:45:35","date_gmt":"2013-12-27T00:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=117224"},"modified":"2014-01-02T03:03:04","modified_gmt":"2014-01-01T21:33:04","slug":"the-many-dimensions-of-artefact-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-many-dimensions-of-artefact-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"The Many Dimensions Of Artefact Theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

The Archaeological Department has a splendid history.\u00a0 The work of the Department has gone a long way in tracing the history of this nation, piecing together the many story-strands, corroborating the narratives embedded in the less tangible such as folk lore and those that are hotly contested such as the written word.\u00a0 Glorious as this history of excavation and scholarship is, what happened to that which was recovered from various sites is a sad story.<\/p>\n

Priceless archeological treasures recovered with great effort by the Archaeological Department have been ferreted away from sites as well as museums.\u00a0 Then there have been treasure hunters who have pillaged archaeological sites located in remote parts of the island and poorly protected.<\/p>\n

Years ago a distinguished archaeologist observed wryly that if we cannot protect artefacts then they are probably safer unearthed.\u00a0 He had a point.\u00a0 The Department is stretched to protect the sites and museums are not safe either.<\/p>\n

This is why it is valid for some to counter demands that artefacts taken away by colonial powers should be returned by saying \u2018we can\u2019t even protect what we have; they are probably safer in England\u2019.\u00a0 Theft, though, is theft; stolen goods, whether obtained by theft, purchase or gift, are stolen goods.\u00a0 A crime.\u00a0 Punishable.<\/p>\n

The right thing for government of countries whose museums or private collections have such artefacts to do would be to recover them and return to country of origin.\u00a0 No argument there. \u00a0\u00a0Someone robs your car because you were careless, the police once recovering the vehicle cannot hold on to it claiming you are can\u2019t be trusted to leave it unattended and open to re-theft.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the would-be recipients of such treasures must be equipped to receive. It\u2019s not that there is some kind of condition for returning loot but things that belong to the nation belongs to the people, and that which is held in the public trust must be safe.\u00a0 If it is best to leave unearthed that which, if excavated, we might lose forever, the same logic applied to the business of recovering loot.<\/p>\n

Pillage is older than the Archeological Department.\u00a0 Pillage, moreover, is not always an outside job.\u00a0 Neither is the \u2018inside story of theft\u2019 a recent phenomenon; the early excavators were not persuaded only by scholarly intent.\u00a0 This does not mean that the Department should be shut down.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had nidan horu.\u00a0 <\/i>Treasure hunting earns headlines often.\u00a0 Museum robberies too.\u00a0 What we rarely hear about is recovery.\u00a0 Typically new thefts take the public eye away from old ones.<\/p>\n

Perhaps contemporary society firmly believes that all things depreciate in value over time; the older, the less worth.\u00a0 But what is a nation without a history?\u00a0 Sure, it is version or a discourse about version, but without artefact, without text, there\u2019s no argument.\u00a0 That suits those without history and those who find history a bit uncomfortable due to lesser historical endowment.\u00a0\u00a0 This is why destroying archaeological evidence by way of bulldozing sites or building over them is as or more pernicious than blasting statues and temples to look for treasure.\u00a0 The same goes for burning texts.\u00a0 The colonial powers did it not to erase history but erase a civilizational code, but the person who ferreted from the Department of Archives the document detailing the first national census of persons wanted in all probability to erase a non-history of a particular community.<\/p>\n

There are then several dimensions to this business: vandalism, theft and historiography.<\/p>\n

If we don\u2019t know where we came from, we will find it hard to figure out which of the available paths would lead to a better future for all citizens.\u00a0 Artefacts are an important piece of that story that we will have to visit and re-visit as our ancestors have and as generations yet to come will have to.<\/p>\n

The Department has to be strengthened with resources and personnel.\u00a0 The holding facilities must be secure.\u00a0 As of now, there doesn\u2019t seem to be any interest on the part of those whose job it is to attend to these things.\u00a0 It is hard to believe that they don\u2019t understand the importance of such things.\u00a0 If corrective steps are not taken, then it will be hard to stop people from thinking that some people want things to stay this way.\u00a0 The answer to the obvious follow-up question, \u2018why?\u2019 will also be obvious.\u00a0 Someone is benefitting. Someone powerful is benefitting.\u00a0 The beneficiary or would-be beneficiary has checks to cash.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":105560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Many Dimensions Of Artefact Theft - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-many-dimensions-of-artefact-theft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Many Dimensions Of Artefact Theft - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-many-dimensions-of-artefact-theft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-27T00:15:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-01T21:33:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"130\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-many-dimensions-of-artefact-theft\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-many-dimensions-of-artefact-theft\/\",\"name\":\"The Many Dimensions Of Artefact Theft - 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