Cultural Property Law on March 12, 2010: Dead Dogs, Inside Men, and Pearl Diving

All things cultural property law for today, March 12, 2010:

• The Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Preservation Magazine contains an article (“The Inside Man“) detailing an FBI agent’s efforts in a good ol’fashioned sting operation on a collector in illegally excavated Native American ancient objects.  It’s an easy and enjoyable read, good story.  Hat tip LCCHP.
• An ancient Egyptian sarcophagus was returned to Egypt on Wednesday, having been intercepted at Miami International Airport in 2008 during a routine screening of incoming goods.
• Noah Charney of the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art published an article in the Crime Report titled “Stolen Masterpieces: How Organized Crime Targets the International Art World” about organized crime’s role in the antiquities trade, and why little progress to stop the black market trade is being made.
• Hutch, a dog who is believed to have died in the 1545 sinking of the Mary Rose, will be the first 400 year old dog to appear at the Crufts dog show in Portsmouth (UK) (I know, there’s nothing legal about this, so sue me.)
• Macchu Picchu will reopen to tourists on April 1st.  We visited the site this past January, right before the rains.
• Bahrain seeks to preserve its pearl-diving traditions as a means to increase its cultural attractiveness to UNESCO for potential World Heritage Sites.

Posted in: Amusing, Archaeology Law, Criminal prosecutions, Cultural Property Law, Egypt, Illegal Trade, International Treaties, Middle East, Organized Crime, Preservation Initiatives, Repatriation, Shipwrecks, South America, UNESCO