Hello! Since it is my first ever post, it seems fitting to introduce myself and why I’m here. My name is Elicia Bates and I’m a junior at Fordham University in New York City. When people ask what my plans are after graduation, the details change but the end stays the same: work at a place that allows me to … Read More
The Value of Trash
Shell middens dot coastal landscapes all around the world, evidence of inhabitants and communities that are now long gone. These refuse heaps are mostly composed of shells from the locally eaten shellfish, but also often contain rare artifacts. The alkaline conditions in the mounds preserve objects well and this can provide invaluable information to archaeologists, researchers, and descendants about life in … Read More
Background on Bears Ears: Why is its future is so contentious?
The unusual and beautiful land that now makes up Bears Ears National Monument has been central to various cultures for thousands of years. In the proclamation that made 1.3 million acres of this land into a National Monument, President Obama called it “one of the densest and most significant cultural landscapes in the United States.” This striking landscape contains the remains … Read More
The Joans of Frémiet
Symbolizing nationalism and military superiority, Joan of Arc is one of the greatest icons of French culture, and has therefore become the subject of intellectual and political thought and significant art and sculpture. Among the socio-political uncertainty, the 100 Years War in the 15th century, Joan of Arc emerged as the image of stability. Credited with turning the tide of … Read More
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Man Found Guilty for Trafficking Over 500 Artifacts from Mexico to Big Bend National Park
In February, Andrew Kowalik of Rockport, Texas was sentenced to five years of home confinement and a $10,000 fine for smuggling over 500 pre-Columbian artifacts from Mexico to Texas’ Big Bend National Park. The agents recovered ceramics, lithics, figurines, and 2,000-year-old shoes, “all estimated to be worth $250,000 on the black market.” The objects are thought to be looted from … Read More
Updated Country Profiles: A Global Concern
SAFE recently unveiled three new country profiles that are of A Global Concern: Ethiopia, Libya, and Vietnam. Rebecca Jones, a SAFE volunteer and PhD student at Australian National University, wrote our first new page, Global Concern: Vietnam. Her article focused on the diversity of Vietnamese cultural heritage, underwater archaeology, and the local and international market demand for illicit antiquities. Jones also … Read More
Archaeological Site Near Beaver Dam, Arizona Looted: Bureau of Land Management Asks for Public Awareness and Engagement
In 2016, Tara Craft and Matthew Doyle looted an Anasazi, or Ancestral Puebloan, archaeological site on public lands near Beaver Dam, Arizona. During the investigation, both Craft and Doyle admitted to digging the site’s pit houses to loot ceramics, lithics, and any other artifacts they could find. Approximately 200 pieces of cultural and archaeological materials were found in their home. These … Read More
Thangka Paintings: The Legacy of the Silk Road
The Silk Road is one of the most fascinating periods in world history, connecting the East to the West through Han China and the Roman Empire. Yet, it is also one of the most elusive. Despite the lack of written records, historians have managed to partially reconstruct the nature of the Silk Road and have found it to be symbolic … Read More