Looted
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Latest Episodes
Episode 6: Search and Recovery
- In this episode archaeologist Dimitri Nakassis talks about two kinds of archaeological work in southern Greece—a pedestrian survey of the countryside, and a salvage excavation of a Mycenaean cemet
Episode 5: Return to Sender
On the program today we tackle the big question of repatriation and the decades-long debates involving some famous antiquities returned to Italy from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: the Euphronios Kra
Episode 4: Village Pillage (“Field Notes”)
Archaeologist Dr. Spencer Pope shares his thoughts on looting in Sicily, particularly at the site of Palikè, a 2400 year old town not far from Catania on Sicily’s east coast, in the fertile plains of the island’s active volcano, Mt Etna.
Episode 3: Big Bronzes
There’s nothing like a full-bodied ancient Greek bronze nude to get the crowds to a museum. A visitor might even fall in love (speaking from personal experience—Riace Bronzes, here’s looking at you). We’ll focus on two of these very rare figures,
Episode 2: Figure Drawing
Marble figurines made ca. 5000 years ago in the Cycladic Islands of the Aegean became all the rage for collectors, and a great influence in Modernist Art. Easily looted and almost as easily faked, these objects have a unique role in the modern world.
Episode 1: Gold Digger
Listen to the story of a gold funerary wreath, looted from Northern Greece in the 1990s, smuggled into Germany, and eventually purchased by an illustrious U.S. museum. With their abundance of gold and other luxury items,