Law and the Cultural Heritage

This is a study of the legal protection of cultural heritage. The first volume gives a general introduction to the series and discusses both the need to protect antiquities and the historical development of legislation for that purpose.

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This is a study of the legal protection of cultural heritage. The authors, both senior academics, have collected, translated and analyzed the laws on antiques, artworks, folklore, monuments and sites of almost four hundred jurisdictions. This survey, which considers in detail every relevant national law, court decision, and international recommendation and convention that together comprise the concept of "cultural heritage law", should serve as a basic reference text for all professionals concerned with this topic, whether archaeologist, museum curator, collector, lawyer or government official concerned with the preservation of the cultural patrimony. The first volume gives a general introduction to the series and discusses both the need to protect antiquities and the historical development of legislation for that purpose. The principle of jurisdiction over excavation sites and excavating teams is then described along with the different types of law (antiquities acts, national parks, planning legislation, wreck and salvage law) currently used by countries for the protection of endangered relics.