This volume highlights the deleterious effects of the trade in cultural heritage, but in particular it focuses upon questions of legal and local responses to the exploitation of archaeological sites for commercial gain.

Neil Brodie is an Archaeologist who since 1988 has been Coordinator of the Illicit Antiquities Research Centre at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge.
Kathryn Walker Tubb is an Archaeological Conservator and Lecturer at the Institue of Archaeology, University College London. She has co-organized a major international conference entitled 'Conservation and the AntiquitiesTrade' in 1993 for the UK Institute for Conservation Archaeology Section.

1. Introduction Neil Brodie 2. Greek Vases for Sale: some statistical evidence Vinnie Norskov 3. Walking a Fine Line: promoting the past without selling it Paula Lazrus 4. The Concept of Cultural Protection in Times of Armed Conflict: from the Crusades to the new Millennium Patrick Boylan 5. Law and the Underwater Cultural Heritage: a question of balancing interests Sarah Dromgoole 6. Negotiating the Future of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Patrick O'Keefe 7. Perceptions of Marine Artefact Conservation and their Relationship to Destruction and Theft Amanda Sutherland 8. Metal Detecting in Britain: catastrophe or compromise? Peter Addyman and Neil Brodie . 9. Britannia Waives the Rules: the licensing of archaeological material for export from the United Kingdom Neil Brodie 10. Mexico's Archaeological Heritage: a convergence and confrontation of interests Enrique Nalda 11. What's going on around the corner? Illegal trade of art and antiquities in Argentina Danial Schávelzon 12. Looting Graves/Buying and Selling Artefacts: Facing reality in the United States Hester Davies 13. Reducing Incentives for Illicit Trade in Antiquities: the US implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention Susan Keech McIntosh 14. The Rape of Mali's Only Resource Téréba Togola 15. Dealing with Dealers and Tomb Raiders: the realities of the archaeology of the Ghor es-Safi in Jordan Konstantinos Politis 16. Plunder of Cultural and Art Treasures: the Indian experience S. K. Pachauri 17 Point, Counterpoint Kathryn Walker Tubb