March 15, 2005
Mr. Jay Kislak
Chair, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
U.S. Department of State
301 4th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20547
Re: Comments submitted at CPAC public meeting 17 February 2005
Dear Mr. Kislak:
I have worked on archaeological projects in China for 15 years and at sites located in at
least six provinces. This has included field excavations as well as collections-based work
at previously excavated sites. I work primarily with very old sites dating to either the
Neolithic or Paleolithic. My field of specialization, faunal analysis or zooarchaeology,
focuses on the excavation, analysis, and interpretation of the animal bones that are so
commonly found in archaeological contexts. These artifacts are not beautiful or desirable
to the collector, but they are incredibly valuable in helping us to understand the full
meaning of the sites that we excavate.
Understanding where each artifact lies in context with every other artifact is essential to
the practice of archaeology. Artifact hunting and looting destroys the context of a site
and essentially ruins our one best chance to collect all the data that would help us to
understand the meaning of a site. This is, I believe, the central most important reason
why import restrictions on archaeological materials are worthy of support. It is
impossible to overstress the value of intact archaeological context to the excavator. With
good control over space and depth we have a window into how people organized
themselves at the individual, group, and society level. Without good control over the
provenience of artifacts, we are left to guess at their age, their function, and their
relevance to the society that made them.
For example, the ancient practice of burying the dead with grave goods provides a wealth
of information, but it also renders burials one of the most vulnerable components of a
site. Grave goods can tell us about people’s lives, about the organization of society, and
about the nature of social relationships if we can compare across many examples. We do
this by looking at the quality, quantity, and placement of objects within a tomb. Burials
also teach us about religious beliefs and ritual practice through the nature of the
interments and the use and placement of specialized artifacts such as the carved jade Bi
disks that are usually placed over the chest. If we make comparisons across sites or
across time we can begin to see patterns that can be indicative of, for example, the
accumulation or loss of economic and social power relationships on a regional scale.
China has been roundly criticized in the media for failing to protect its heritage and for
rampant corruption that feeds a growing local and international market. My own
experience, however, has been quite different. In virtually every province in which I
have worked, the personnel of the local Cultural Relics Management Bureaus have been
committed professionals that take great care to provide protection for excavated
collections materials. In many cases they are short on resources, but they manage to find
collections facilities and caretakers in any case. These range from well-curated
collections in university and research institutes to simpler storage and access control
solutions in small site museums and field stations. For example, at a Longshan site in
Shandong province where Anne Underhill and I are currently working, the high value
pottery, a distinctive form of eggshell thin black reduction ware, is housed on the top
floor of the local museum. In order to get into that storeroom, you need to pass through
four locked doors, requiring four separate keys, and each key is in the possession of a
different individual. Two of the doors are barred metal gates that are set directly in the
concrete of the building. If a person wanted to get into that storeroom to take some of the
pottery, he would have to bribe not one individual, but at least four people in order to
gain access.
In addition, China does devote resources to rescue excavations where possible. The
Three Gorges Dam project will inundate sites throughout the affected stretch of the Yanzi
River behind the dam. Regardless of one’s opinion of the Three Gorges Dam project, it
would be inaccurate to say that China is not taking any steps to try to mitigate the impact
on local archaeological sites. I know I have had the experience over the last few years,
and I am sure that several of my colleagues have as well, of learning through emails that
one or another Chinese colleague is off to the Three Gorges on a rescue excavation
project. These efforts will very likely not be enough to satisfy the international
community, but nevertheless they are not insignificant.
There is currently more collaborative research and cultural exchange between China and
the US than ever before. Loans of artifacts for exhibition and research as well as
intellectual connections between scholars, students, and the public have increased
dramatically since the late 1980s. In my own work, loans of artifacts for research
purposes were not permitted when I first started working in China but are now relatively
easy to arrange. A greater sense of safety regarding archaeological resources should
increase, rather than decrease, cultural exchanges with China.
People in China everywhere I have worked are knowledgeable and sophisticated with
regard to their own history and prehistory. There is tremendous interest in these subjects,
and any archaeologist working in the area can relate numerous requests to talk with
television reporters, local officials, and local schools about ongoing excavations and
about the lives of people and societies in the past. While everyone can appreciate the
beauty, artistry, and creativity of early artifacts, a more patient and controlled approach to
their excavation can yield an abundance of additional information that is invaluable to
our understanding of our collective experience. Anything that we can do to lessen the
demand for illegally excavated artifacts may help to reduce their supply as well.
Sincerely,
Deborah A. Bekken
Adjunct Curator, Anthropology