The Pennsylvania Declaration at 50

Archaeological site looting is an ancient problem, but one that intensified after World War II as museums and collectors sought to build significant antiquities collections. Countries witnessing the pillage of their archaeological heritage and its subsequent display in Western museums began to raise public alarm. Some archaeologists joined them in protest. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the culmination of their efforts: the landmark Pennsylvania Declaration and the 1970 UNESCO Convention. Recognizing that looting for the illicit trade damages the archaeological record, in 1970, the Penn Museum declared that it would no longer purchase art or antiquities without evidence of their legal export. After shepherding through this policy change, then-Director Froelich Rainey joined the US delegation negotiating the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. This international law intended to curtail the illicit trade that Rainey and the Penn Museum had already rejected as a source in the institution's own collections policy.