Cultural Vandalism Thrives in the USA
The Looting of Art and Antiquities Takes Many Forms in the USA
Nov 14, 2008
Cultural vandalism, which includes the looting, smuggling, and mishandling of ancient jewelry, ceramics, frescos, and other man-made treasures, does not occur only in remote sites that date back thousands of years. It is a crime that is alive and thriving across the United States under many guises.
Native American Artifacts in Nevada
Items created by Native Americans have long been subject to looting. Despite modern awareness and cultural sensitivity, this wrong continues today.
According to CBS13.com (Sacramento, CA) two men from Folsom, CA, were indicted in October 2008 for allegedly stealing from government and private land in Nevada arrowheads, stone tools, and other items handcrafted by Native Americans more than a century ago. The men face several hundred thousand dollars in fines and up to five years in prison for violating federal law.
Chinese Ceramics in Oregon
In an article in The Oregonian, two female archaeologists in Portland, OR are credited with scaring away a man who was illegally helping himself to Chinese ceramics and other artifacts dating from the mid- to late-1800s. In October 2008, the women, who work for an environmental consulting firm, were passing by a corner lot where a building had been demolished when they spotted the man using a shovel to dig out pottery, bottles, and ceramics from a hole.
Recognizing the significance of the ceramics, the women questioned the man, who claimed to have permission to dig. When the women doubted his story, the unidentified man allegedly drove away with some ceramics and stoneware. The women then stood guard at the site for several hours while police and city officials sprung into action. The man’s claim of permission to dig turned out to be false. The city of Portland ordered a halt to all work at the site, which was then fenced off for protection.
Bronze Statue in New Jersey
As reported by trueveo.com, a man was arrested in July 2008 in the case of a bronze horse statue that was stolen from the now-closed Garden State Racetrack in Cherry Hill, NJ. The police determined that the man and his accomplices had used a front-end loader to knock the statue of a Native American on a galloping horse off its concrete pedestal, then broke up the statue and sold the pieces to a scrap dealer. Only the head of the horse was recovered.
The pieces of the statue yielded the thieves an estimated $4,000. In its original condition, the statue, which weighed nearly 1 ton and was part of a pair, had a value of $500,000.
Historic Documents in New York
The Daily Gazette of Schenectady, NY, reports that a former archivist for the State of New York was given a sentence of two to six years in prison in early October 2008 after he pleaded guilty to the second-degree grand larceny of more than 1,600 historic documents and artifacts from the State. Daniel D. Lorello, a Civil War expert, told an Albany County court that he had taken the items from the State archives from January 1997 to January 2008 to pay for house renovations, tuition, and various bills.
Lorello's crime was uncovered after an alert resident of Virginia notified New York State officials that a letter being offered on eBay likely belonged to the State Library. The 1823 letter had been written by John C. Calhoun, who served as vice president of the United States under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.
The New York Attorney General’s office indicated that most of the stolen items had been recovered. In addition to his prison sentence, Lorello must pay $125,500 in restitution to the unwitting buyers of the stolen items who later returned them to the State. He must also give his $80,000 personal collection of historic artifacts and documents to the New York State Library and Archives.
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