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Archaeological looting on United States federal land has been illegal for over a century. Regardless, the activity has continued in the Four Corners region. This paper discusses how the 1979 Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) can be viewed as sumptuary law, and within a sumptuary context, subversion can be anticipated. An analysis of 1986 and June 2009 federal raids in the Four Corners will exemplify this point by identifying local discourses found in newspapers both before and after each raid, which demonstrate a sumptuary effect. Ultimately, this paper concludes that looting just adapted, rather than halted, after each federal raid and that understanding this social context of continued local justification and validation of illegal digging is a potential asset for cultural resource protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses on the significance of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) towards archaeologists and the archaeology profession as a whole. According to the author, NHPA is a significant legislation in so far as the profession is concerned; however, it did not get the due attention from archaeologists. NHPA gave archaeologists more responsibility which include evaluation of cultural sites threatened by federal undertakings.

Reports on the British Museum in London, England's negotiation with the Internet auction company, eBay in an effort to control the illegal sale of archaeological finds. Types of archaeological items sold over Internet auction companies; Requirement for archaeological items unearthed in England or Wales after September 1997 to be registered and viewed by experts; Germany's law making it illegal for any individual not working on an authorized site to dig up artifacts.

Reports that a prosecutor in Colorado in May 2001 declined to use the 1979 Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) to indict a couple alleged to have removed Native American skeletal remains. Comments from archaeologist Mark Varien on the failure to prosecute; Assessment of the role of ARPA statute; Case of Ian Lynch, who has been charged under ARPA for removing a skull from Heceta Island, Alaska.