Examines the largely unexplored topics in Caribbean archaeology of looting of heritage sites, fraudulent artifacts, and illicit trade of archaeological materials Real, Recent, or Replica: PrecolumbianCaribbean Heritage as Art, Commodity, and Inspiration is the first book-length study of its kind to highlight the increasing commodification of Caribbean Precolumbian heritage. Amerindian art, including 'TaIno' art, has become highly coveted by collectors, spurring a prolific and increasingly sophisticated black market of forgeries, but also contemporary artistic engagement, openly appreciated as modern artworks taking inspiration from the past. The contributors to this volume contend with difficult subject matter including the continued looting of archaeological sites in the region, the seismic increase of forgeries, and the imbalance of power and economic relations between the producers and consumers of neo-Amerindian art. The case studies document the considerable time depth of forgeries in the region (since the late nineteenth century), address the policies put in place by Caribbean governments and institutions to safeguard national patrimony, and explore the impact looted and forged artefacts have on how museums and institutions collect and ultimately represent the Caribbean past to their audiences. Overall, the volume emphasizes the continued desire for the 'authentic' Precolumbian artifact, no matter the cost. It provides insights for archaeologists, museum professionals, art historians, and collectors to combat illegal trade and support communities in creating sustainable heritage industries.

This Open Access book presents a legal geography of property rights in land through the lenses of landscape and critical spatial justice. It seeks to reassert the importance of landscape and place in property as an alternative to abstract concepts of property which dominate contemporary thinking. It investigates property’s origins and uptake in the common law through the lenses of landscape and spatial justice, providing a genealogy of property, from its early origins in pre-feudal Scandinavia to its development as a cornerstone concept in English common law. It offers a new perspective and analytical tools to reconsider many accepted approaches to land in the law today. This book also contributes both to the decolonization of property law and critiques of property’s unsustainability, as well as the examination of the role of law itself in facilitating large scale land changes that destroy place, and the ramifications of this process. It speaks to socio-legal, environmental and property law scholars. This is an open access book.