CIVILIZATION
AND ARCHEOLOGY
British adventurer
Sir Aurel Stein sent home more than 40,000 relics from his explorations round
Asia, most of which are still in the UK. Either one of history's heroes, or
one of its greatest plunderers, the 60th anniversary of his death again raises
the question of whether museums need to confront their own past.
Photo:
Leaving
for London
Stein transported the thousands of manuscripts, paintings and
artifacts to the UK and India on the backs of camels. In the 1920s with new
interest in their own heritage, the Chinese authorities refused permission for
Stein to make further trips to the region.
Photo:
Stein (right) conducted "the most daring and adventurous raid
Sir Aurel
Stein brought the cultural treasures of the wilds of western China to the
vaults of the British Museum. His feats were described by one of his
contemporaries as "the most daring and adventurous raid upon the ancient
world that any archaeologist has attempted". While his life's work is
celebrated in the western world, he is remembered in a very different way by
countries whose heritage he "looted". The heritage taken is China's parallel
to the Greek claim on the Elgin Marbles - priceless friezes taken from the
temple of the Parthenon in the 19th Century: both are unique cultural relics
taken away by Europeans. The Marbles are still housed at the British Museum;
negotiations with Greece have ended with the museum adamant the historic
statues are staying in the UK. A museum which is being built to house them
in Greece is set to remain empty.
CULTURAL DISPUTES
Photo:
Treasures of Dunhuang
On his first
trip Stein crossed the massive Taklamakan desert on an arduous journey. But
it was his second trip on which he uncovered thousands of manuscripts and
paintings in the Cave of One Thousand Buddhas at Dunhuang, that was to
establish him as one of the most important scholars of Buddhist history.
MORE NEXT