PortantIssues
@portantissues.bsky.social
Paul Barford: British Archaeologist, archaeoblogger concerned about portable antiquities issues and cleaning up no-questions-asked antiquities trade. Retweet not endorsement.
... as one occasionally does...
April 22, 2025 at 4:21 PM
... as one occasionally does...
So much for the solemn "security guarantee" of Budapest. So much for a President's solemn ASSURANCE, "for as long as it takes" - so just how much is the word of a POTUS worth? What does that Institution stand for and represent today? At present, nothing at all good.
March 3, 2025 at 8:29 PM
So much for the solemn "security guarantee" of Budapest. So much for a President's solemn ASSURANCE, "for as long as it takes" - so just how much is the word of a POTUS worth? What does that Institution stand for and represent today? At present, nothing at all good.
I do not know how many times the world has had to watch the US "committing" to something while loudly taking the moral high ground, only to shortly after simply lose interest and abandon everything unfinished. Time and time again. The USA simply is not worthy of anyone's trust. Shameful.
March 3, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I do not know how many times the world has had to watch the US "committing" to something while loudly taking the moral high ground, only to shortly after simply lose interest and abandon everything unfinished. Time and time again. The USA simply is not worthy of anyone's trust. Shameful.
A serious collector of stamps, banknotes, old maps etc would be well advised to learn how to recognise the various printing processes, inks, watermarks and papers and the characteristics of reprints and fakes before buying.... the same with antiquities. No?
February 24, 2025 at 9:23 AM
A serious collector of stamps, banknotes, old maps etc would be well advised to learn how to recognise the various printing processes, inks, watermarks and papers and the characteristics of reprints and fakes before buying.... the same with antiquities. No?
In antiquities collecting, far too many people buy stuff without any appreciation of [or interest in] what the techniques used to make them (or their fakes) would have been/are, and what their effects look like on the object. Obviously a stupid way to go about collecting anything.
February 24, 2025 at 9:15 AM
In antiquities collecting, far too many people buy stuff without any appreciation of [or interest in] what the techniques used to make them (or their fakes) would have been/are, and what their effects look like on the object. Obviously a stupid way to go about collecting anything.
The tool traces are visible with the naked eye... Just compare a modern machined cut with an excavated (grounded) ancient gem.
To learn, collectors and dealers could buy some cheap carnelian beads from India/SE Asia in a craft shop and have a go themselves to see what tool marks are left by what.
To learn, collectors and dealers could buy some cheap carnelian beads from India/SE Asia in a craft shop and have a go themselves to see what tool marks are left by what.
February 24, 2025 at 9:12 AM
The tool traces are visible with the naked eye... Just compare a modern machined cut with an excavated (grounded) ancient gem.
To learn, collectors and dealers could buy some cheap carnelian beads from India/SE Asia in a craft shop and have a go themselves to see what tool marks are left by what.
To learn, collectors and dealers could buy some cheap carnelian beads from India/SE Asia in a craft shop and have a go themselves to see what tool marks are left by what.
A few thoughts on this: paul-barford.blogspot.com/2025/02/hist...
History-Destroying "Haul" Flogged off to Buy Drinks Down the Pub
UK Artefact hunter, happy to destroy history in the ground (BBC) A haul of Ro...
paul-barford.blogspot.com
February 23, 2025 at 3:55 AM
A few thoughts on this: paul-barford.blogspot.com/2025/02/hist...
IMO this is not "hand tools". Our museum collections and published corpora are heavily contaminated by items brought back by tourists who then "donated" them (in the US for a tax cut) or sold them on the market. Some are easily recognised as fakes, others less so.
February 23, 2025 at 3:53 AM
IMO this is not "hand tools". Our museum collections and published corpora are heavily contaminated by items brought back by tourists who then "donated" them (in the US for a tax cut) or sold them on the market. Some are easily recognised as fakes, others less so.
clever folk, those ancients... or the dealers in such items...
February 22, 2025 at 9:02 AM
clever folk, those ancients... or the dealers in such items...
"Purchased in Egypt by Lucy Olcott Perkins through Henry W. Kent" www.clevelandart.org/art/1914.570. It has some interesting toolmarks, clear evidence of "advanced technology", grooves have sharp edges, long striations, an even profile... obviously cut rapidly with high speed cutting disc
February 22, 2025 at 8:58 AM
"Purchased in Egypt by Lucy Olcott Perkins through Henry W. Kent" www.clevelandart.org/art/1914.570. It has some interesting toolmarks, clear evidence of "advanced technology", grooves have sharp edges, long striations, an even profile... obviously cut rapidly with high speed cutting disc