In the wake of the Museum Case and the Met's recent deal, the AIA has come out with a timely statement ... and it's getting press coverage, e.g., from the Plain Dealer:

The global debate over the black market in ancient art is heating up.

At issue is whether art museums encourage looting of ancient sites when they buy works without detailed ownership histories, such as the large bronze statue of "Apollo the Lizard Slayer," bought in 2004 by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Tuesday, the Archaeological Institute of America criticized guidelines on collecting of antiquities issued by the Association of Art Museum Directors, of which the Cleveland museum is a member.

"The need for museums to adopt acquisitions policies that recognize the connection between their acquisitions and the problem of looting of archaeological sites is pressing," Patty Gerstenblith, chairwoman of the institute's Cultural Property Legislation and Policy Committee and a law professor at DePaul University, wrote in an e-mail. The antiquities debate is sharpening, thanks to a current trial in Rome, in which Marion True, a former curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, faces criminal charges of collaborating with smugglers.

Separately, in a pathbreaking accord, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York agreed to return objects allegedly looted from ancient sites in Italy in exchange for long-term loans of objects of equivalent artistic value.

The Met's example sets a strong precedent for all other American museums.

Nevertheless, last month, the Association of Art Museum Directors released a survey stating that antiquities purchases by art museums represent less than 10 percent of the global trade in antiquities, suggesting that museums are not driving the black market in antiquities.

The association has stated that it deplores illicit excavation of ancient sites but advises members to make decisions on a case-by-case basis regarding purchases of ancient objects or exhibitions of loaned works.

The Archaeological Institute doesn't believe the association guidelines are strict enough. It wants museums to refuse to buy works that lack, among other things, legitimate export documentation from the country of origin.

"A great museum like the Cleveland Museum of Art needs a policy of this kind," said Malcolm Bell III, a professor of art history at the University of Virginia and the Archeological Institute's vice president for professional responsibilities.

Michael Bennett, the Cleveland museum's curator of ancient Greek and Roman art, could not be reached for comment.

For the official AIA policy statement (and related documents), click here! (haven't written that in ages)