Courtesy Avner Raban

Missing in action. This round metal token illustrates a drawback to the current system of handling artifacts. The token mentions Caesarea’s harbor (Greek limenos) and was shown to the excavators by an antiquities dealer. The item was supposedly found at the site’s dump—fair game for dealers because the excavators had discarded it. However, the small item could easily have been pocketed by a worker at the site. To combat such theft, Avner Raban proposes that proceeds from the legitimate sale of artifacts go for baksheesh—bonuses—to dig workers who find especially valuable items.