The Stuart L. Wheeler Gallery of the Ancient World is not actively acquiring antiquities. We follow the policy pioneered by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of not acquiring or accepting donations of ancient objects that have no recorded provenance prior to 1970, the date of the UNESCO Conventions on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, as recommended by the Archaeological Institute of America and, since 2008, the Association of Art Museum Directors. Adhering to this policy will ensure that our gallery in no way engages in practices that may serve as an incentive for the looting and destruction of archaeological sites and the ensuing loss of archaeological context and cultural heritage.
