Illicit Antiquities Trade Lecture at Phillips Academy

TALES TO TELL: A LOOK BEHIND THE LABEL

Date: May 17, 2016
Start time: 7 p.m.
Free Lecture - Refreshments will be served after


A 4th century BC gold funerary wreath dug up by looters is hidden in a hollowed-out watermelon and smuggled out of Greece, eventually turning up at an illustrious U.S. museum. In a display case, where the wreath’s delicate leaves sparkle brightly, its label indicates little about its original context and nothing of its modern travels through the illicit trade in antiquities. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of this and other ancient Mediterranean artifacts, and how they reveal the dilemmas we face in the preservation and protection of the world’s cultural heritage.

Dr. Zoë Kontes is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Classics at Kenyon College.