I have to take strong exception to Robert A. Baron's response to the
message from Turkey regarding the Bergoman Temple.  To compare the
illegal looting and exportation of archaeological materials from their
country of origin to Picasso's paintings is a completely inappropriate
analogy in my view.  Picasso was a professional artist who was in the
business of selling his paintings.  I doubt seriously he had any qualms
about his works leaving his native country, as long as they were paid
for.  Illegal looting not only removes cultural patrimony but it is
extremely destructive to what is left behind.
 
Every nation, in my view, has a right to preserve its own cultural
patrimony regardless of whether that heritage bears a direct link to
the population currently residing in that country.  As long as humans
have been on the face of the earth, we have been very mobile.  There
is probably no one spot on the planet that has not seen a break in
cultural continuity.  Does this mean that the people now residing in
a particular area have no right to cherish the archaeological remains
that have been left behind by other peoples?  Does this mean that I,
as a Caucasian American, have no right to try and stop the looting
that is rapidly destroying Native American sites in the United States?
Is this not a part of my country's cultural heritage that I have a right
and an obligation to preserve?
 
It's precisely the kind of attitude exhibited in Mr. Baron's reply that
has led to so much looting in this country and elsewhere:  "Well, it's
not a part of my prehistory so why should I care?"
 
I wanted to let those in Turkey and elsewhere that have a concern for their
archaeological remains that there are different points of view in the United
States than that expressed by Mr. Baron.
 
 
Amy A. Douglass
Tempe Historical Museum
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