Researching a Rigged Game: Digital Approaches to Tracing the Illicit Trade in Cultural Objects

This open access book on open-source data and the trade in cultural heritage is foundational for object biography, provenance research studies, and social science methodological education.

Interest in studying the (illicit) trade in cultural objects, as well questions around ownership, access and protection, have grown in recent years. However, this interdisciplinary field requires a range of methodological skills in order to trace an object's ownership history and the social network underpinning its trade. Drawing from a diverse group of researchers and practitioners, this edited volume brings together methodological, ethical and disciplinary considerations in the use of open source data to research the trade and transfer of cultural objects. As such, it will serve as the paramount guide to anyone who is interested in doing research on this topic.

Dr Emiline Smith is a Lecturer in Criminology at the School of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Glasgow. She is a Fellow at the Centre for Criminology at the University of Hong Kong, and a member of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, the Trafficking Culture Research Consortium, and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Summer Austin is based at University College London's Institute of Archaeology. She works as an archaeologist focused on cultural heritage crimes, the (il)licit antiquities trade, transnational crime and the art and antiquities market.