The Globe leapt on these acquisitions, quoting archaeologist Claire Lyons, vice president for professional responsibility of the Archaeological Institute of America. It's in the nature of the two professions to differ on this matter. While museum people also wish to preserve archaeological sites, we also have a responsibility for the work of art that is now removed from the ground and out of its country of origin. One, not acquiring it discourages looting and contributes to the decline of looting. As to the second charge, my position is that the museum profession has an ethical obligation to conserve the work of art, to perpetuate the opportunity for the study and appreciation of it.
Art objects have layers of meaning, and only one is the archaeological layer.
Cuno argues, as well, that if museums do not buy an undocumented object, it will disappear into a private collection. The donor said he had had them since the 1960s. In the process of doing research to catalog the tablets, we came across an article that suggested to us that they were part of a hoard of such things that was looted and illegally exported from Palermo in Sicily. We heard nothing for about a year. Then we received word from the general counsel's office at the University that the FBI was coming with members of the Palermotan police and the head of antiquities because they had evidence that the tablets were looted.