Art, authenticity, and the market in Precolumbian antiquities

Probably unnoticed by most readers of this blog, this week a major international incident exploded, pitting prestigious Mexican institutions against a French gallery, and causing social media linking archaeologists to light up.
As summarized by Art Daily, the story begins with the sale of a private collection of Mexican antiquities in Paris. Primarily from the west Mexican state of Guerrero, the collection is for the most part no different than many others with dubious origins held in private hands that consist of stone objects from the so-called Mezcala Culture. As many of my correspondents noted, archaeologists have hardly ever recovered works ... More >Education College Major Book Notebook