A Code of Ethics for Collectors of Ancient Artifacts

A draft code of ethics for the collectors of ancient artefacts has been proposed.

Yesterday on the Yahoo Ancient Artifacts forum a group of antiquities collectors published a document that has been compiled on the basis of several months discussion on that forum. It is a Code of Ethics for Collectors of Ancient Artefacts, and is still a draft and is open to discussion. The code is intended to be voluntary, reflecting the personal conviction of those who adhere to it. The intentions of the code, as described in its introduction, are as follows:

(the code) ‘…aims to inform both new and experienced collectors…these guidelines are an attempt to go further by outlining commonsense standards to protect our shared interests, and particularly the finite and fragile archaeological resource.

The text of the code, along with a commentary, is available on Paul Barford’s Blog.

You can also visit the Ancient Artifacts Yahoo Group which devised the code. You will have to join the Group in order to see the various documents and discussion leading up to the code.