Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Ancient Thracian Dagger found in Bulgaria

TVV · 15th August 2006, 06:09 PM

Excellent observations and points, Laurie. I do not know if all or any eBay auctions offer fake objects, and therefore cannot claim it with certainty. Unfortunately I have friends who are archaeologists and from them I know enough to make me feel quite uneasy and suspicious and I prefer to stay away from ancient weapons offered at on-line auctions. I am not an expert on these weapons and it will be hard for me to distinguish an authentic object from a well made fake even if I hold it in my hands, let alone from poor pictures on the internet.
As for the problem with the illegal treasure-hunting and illegal export of antiques - this is a complicated topic that has been discussed here many times and there are many points of views, all with valid arguments. All I can say is that treasure-hunters usually do horrible damage to the find sites and even the antiques themselves, and that when interesting objects were acquirted illegally on the black market (and here I do not mean a few rusty arrowheads bought on eBay), most often they are hidden in private collections, never to be published. And finally, according to current Bulgarian Law, every object unerathed on Bulgarian soil, even if this happens to be private property, belongs to the Bulgarian state - from a golden Thracian treasure to a common Roman bronze coin worth less than a buck. The export of such objects is strictly prohibited, and so the only way they can make it to the West is through smuggling. Therefore, strictly speaking, your customer's two machairas, if authentic, belong to the Bulgarian government (or the Macedonian government, I believe they have the same laws), even though it is unlikely to claim them (we do not have Zahi Hawas, you see).

15th August 2006, 06:09 PM	#10
TVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,660	Excellent observations and points, Laurie. I do not know if all or any eBay auctions offer fake objects, and therefore cannot claim it with certainty. Unfortunately I have friends who are archaeologists and from them I know enough to make me feel quite uneasy and suspicious and I prefer to stay away from ancient weapons offered at on-line auctions. I am not an expert on these weapons and it will be hard for me to distinguish an authentic object from a well made fake even if I hold it in my hands, let alone from poor pictures on the internet. As for the problem with the illegal treasure-hunting and illegal export of antiques - this is a complicated topic that has been discussed here many times and there are many points of views, all with valid arguments. All I can say is that treasure-hunters usually do horrible damage to the find sites and even the antiques themselves, and that when interesting objects were acquirted illegally on the black market (and here I do not mean a few rusty arrowheads bought on eBay), most often they are hidden in private collections, never to be published. And finally, according to current Bulgarian Law, every object unerathed on Bulgarian soil, even if this happens to be private property, belongs to the Bulgarian state - from a golden Thracian treasure to a common Roman bronze coin worth less than a buck. The export of such objects is strictly prohibited, and so the only way they can make it to the West is through smuggling. Therefore, strictly speaking, your customer's two machairas, if authentic, belong to the Bulgarian government (or the Macedonian government, I believe they have the same laws), even though it is unlikely to claim them (we do not have Zahi Hawas, you see).