Experts say loss of 1,500 items reveals lax cataloguing and boosts case for returning objects to countries of origin
Close observers of the antiquities market tend to be a cynical bunch, having witnessed any number of scams, dubious practices and illicit trading. Yet there was a collective expression of shock among them last week when news emerged of the unexplained absence of a reported around 2,000 items from the British Museum’s priceless collection of ancient and historical artefacts, leading to the resignation of director Hartwig Fischer.
“The volume of missing objects is huge,” says Christos Tsirogiannis, a forensic archaeologist who works with Trafficking Culture, which researches global traffic in looted cultural objects. “No experts were expecting this to happen in one of the world’s biggest museums.”
That undersells how damning this is.
“The stuff we stole and then kept on the basis that we are the best caretakers for these priceless historical artefacts was then stolen en mass” is a bit closer to the mark. Bad enough we refused to give it back, to then lose it to criminals is… well… criminal.