The Return of Cultural Treasures

By Jeanette Greenfield

Book Overview

In recent years controversial cases such as the so-called Elgin Marbles have prompted public debate on the return of cultural treasures to their homelands. In this fully revised and expanded third edition of her seminal work, first published in 2007, Jeanette Greenfield analyzes and discusses the historical, legal and political issues surrounding a wide cross-section of similar cases. Bringing the story up to date, this edition includes new chapters on wartime plunders, deliberately destroyed art and the return of ethnic art such as Australian aboriginal and Native American art. It also explores the palaeontological and marine archaeology issues at play and examines new approaches taken by museums when dealing with cultural objects and their return. Written in a highly accessible style with an interdisciplinary approach, this book will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in cultural heritage, archaeology and anthropology, museums, art history and international law.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521802164
• ISBN13: 9780521802161
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 522 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.8" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Compendium of Tragic Stories

This book, in its second version, includes case studies of 15+ archaeological tragedies. The author and contributing experts document the history of the diaspora of archaeological artifacts from their provenances, the use of these articles in nationalistic and religious contexts, and the struggle for repatriation. This is an excellent book for any archaeologist as it reminds us of the modern context of our work. In addition, students of art history, law, anthropology, and history will find the book useful in its breadth of coverage. I have used this book in curriculum building for undergraduate archaeology students.