Trafficked!: New Research Defining and Exposing Southeast Asian Cultural Property Crime

¹Damien Huffer, ²Rhayan Melendres
¹Department of Archaeology & Classical Studies/Osteological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
²Archaeological Studies Program & UP Pampanga, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

In the four years since the previous IPPA, awareness and exposure of the antiquities trade from, and within, Southeast Asia, has only increased. As Southeast Asian and Western countries continue to adjust legislation and new smuggling cases are investigated, trafficking networks continue to evolve. More qualitative and quantitative information is needed to understand current manifestations of cultural heritage destruction region-wide, the extent that each country’s current legislation prevents or allows for domestic collecting, and how Southeast Asian artefacts move on global markets. This panel seeks presentations that discuss new field or museum based research in source or demand countries, including new online market analyses of sales data on e-commerce or social media platforms. Presentations can focus on terrestrial and underwater cultural property, human remains, new threats to monuments, detecting forgeries, efforts to disrupt the market, or how archaeological data is (or is not, or can be) used to change or enforce country or regional legislation. We’d be especially interested in presentations that connect new data with community outreach and heritage education efforts.