Trafficking Culture
Trafficking Culture is a research consortium that produces evidence-based research into the contemporary global trade in looted cultural objects.
Our researchers, based at Maastricht University, Oxford University, University of Victoria at Wellington, and University of Glasgow, combine criminological and archaeological expertise. Our work is geographically diverse and interdisciplinary.
By conducting innovative quantitative and qualitative research we have established a body of reliable evidence that supports the formulation of effective cultural heritage protection policy. We are committed to raising awareness about these issues through social media, on-line education, and professional training.
NEW BOOK Available now (20% discount available for a limited time): Trafficking Culture: New Directions in Researching the Global Market in Illicit Antiquities
Recent News
Yates speaking at online conference “Imperial Artefacts: History, Law and the Looting of Cultural Property” 28 Jan
21 Jan 2021
Dr Donna Yates and Brieanah Gouveia of King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center will be...
Dr Yates teaching at a certificate programme “Art Law and Its Security Dimensions” 28-30 Jan
20 Jan 2021
Dr Donna Yates is one of the people teaching at a certificate course “Art Law and Its...
Dr Emiline Smith awarded Scottish Funding Council Global Challenges Research Fund grant for project in Indonesia
11 Dec 2020
Congratulations to Dr Emiline Smith who has been awarded a Scottish Funding Council GCRF grant...
Site Updates
Mackenzie, S. and D. Yates (2020), “Researching the Structure of the Illicit Antiquities Trade”, in A. Tompkins (ed.), Provenance Research Today: Principles, Practice, Problems. London: Lund Humphries.
About the book Covering key aspects of provenance research for the international art market, this...
Yates, D. and E. Smith (2019), “Antiquities Trafficking and the Provenance Problem”, in J. Milosch and N. Pearce (eds.) Collecting and Provenance: A Multidisciplinary Approach. London: Rowman & Littlefield.
About the book The study of provenance—the history of the creation and ownership of an artefact,...
Global Trade in Stolen Culture and Nature as Neocolonial Hegemony
In this chapter, we first argue for a green criminological perspective on culture as well as...