Cultural Property Advisory Committee
Cultural Heritage Center
U.S. Department of State
301 4th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20547
It has come to my attention that you are considering extension of the bilateral agreement between the United States and Cyprus that restricts the import into the United States of undocumented archaeological materials from Cyprus. I hope that antique coins will be included among these materials.
Archaeologists rewrite history by means of dated artifacts, and coins often are the best means of dating buildings, shipwrecks, and other types of sites. Coins sadly are among the artifacts most sought by those who profit by trade in antiquities. I can attest to this from personal experience. Between 1961 and 1964 I excavated off the Turkish coast a Byzantine ship that could be dated by about 80 coins, both gold and copper, to A.D. 625 or shortly thereafter. This allowed us to publish the best-dated collection of seventh-century ceramics, tools, etc., ever found. Alas, thieves stole the coins from the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology (Turkey's most visited archaeological museum) a few years ago, just as thieves murdered a museum guard in Turkey several decades ago to steal a coin collection. In other words, those with no interest in history will go to great lengths to acquire ancient coins, including using metal detectors in fields. Luckily, the coins from the shipwreck I mention had been fully published.
A former student and colleague excavated the famous Kyrenia shipwreck off Cyprus, and it, too, was dated by coins.
Because so much of my own work has been on shipwrecks, I use them as examples, for they have allowed us to date with precision the largest collections of medieval Islamic glass, medieval Islamic glazed ceramics, Byzantine weapons, and Byzantine tools, all found on an eleventh-century wreck, along with the oldest dated chess set known. This provided new knowledge for the histories of glass, ceramics, armaments, utensils, and games. But coins similarly allow the dating of strata in terrestrial excavations.
I cannot, therefore, imagine not including undocumented coins among the artifacts restricted from importation into the United States.
Sincerely,
George F. Bass
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Department of Anthropology
Texas A&M University