CIAMS professor Sturt Manning wrote a piece for CNN entitled "How Hobby Lobby damaged history." This op-ed details how the looting and illicit trade of artifacts destroys archaeological contexts and subsequently, our ability to learn about the past. According to Prof. Manning:
These objects have been ripped out of archaeological sites with no documentation and now forever lack context and key associations -- the kind of valuable information possible only with careful scientific excavation by archaeologists. This looting occurs because there is, sadly, a market for these objects -- even if this trade is illegal in many countries. We will now never know the full archaeological history of the 5,548 objects Hobby Lobby bought for $1.6 million.
You can read the full article at CNN's website (link to external site).
