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EDDIE GERALD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

PROBLEMS OF PROVENIENCE. Antiquities shops may sometimes sell objects that have been looted from archaeological sites or illegally trafficked from neighboring countries. Since they were not found during scientific excavations, such unprovenienced objects—some of which may even be forgeries—present serious practical, ethical, and legal issues that scholars must consider when discussing them. Many leading scholarly journals now even prohibit the publication of objects that come from the antiquities market or lack credible documentation of their origin and ownership history.