"It gives you some control over not acquiring objects that were taken illegally--all archaeologists abhor the practice of looting, and we do not want to encourage that kind of behavior," says Pearsall.

Winter, too, finds that documentation helps to curb the market for looted objects.

"Every time we exhibit [a suspect piece], we buy into the desire for such objects that encourage the destruction of archaeological sites and their contexts, and thereby human history," she says.

Art or Artifact?

Cuno argues that to prohibit the display of pieces that do not have full documentation would be a disservice to the public.

"One can't always get full documentation, and to acquire a work of art is, in almost every case, to bring that work of art from the private realm into the public realm," he says.

In response, Bickford Professor of Indian and South Asian Art Pramod Chandra argues that to display such an object is "one small good against the greater wrong. I'd rather go against the greater wrong--there's no end to that."

Agrees Davis, "In one sense, it's probably truethat [undocumented pieces displayed in museums]will be available for scholars, but the other sideto the argument is that by accepting undocumentedpieces, it keeps the market going, is keeping thelooting going."

In a 1996 response to Winter's formalcomplaint, Cuno wrote that he was "very interestedin the differences between the interests ofarchaeologists and art historians in works ofart."

"The former holds the site and circumstances ofthe find as all-important, while the latter can beinterested in many other issues wholly unrelatedto a work's find spot," he wrote. "That oneinterest should be privileged over another is notclear to me."

Effects on Harvard

Some professors believe that the recentpublicity surrounding HUAM's acquisition policieshave negatively affected the University.

"It is a problem with the Harvard UniversityArt Museums' reputation, but it also is a problemfor all scholars associated with Harvard," Wintersays.

Chandra says that he has encountered problemswith his reputation as a scholar because ofassociation with HUAM actions.

"When I go back to my country [India], there isno understanding that the HUAM and the Departmentof Fine Arts are...completely separate entities,"he says.

"People think that we are members of the [HUAM]and the [HUAM] is engaging in processes that arenot approved by them, so the fallout comes onprofessors too," Chandra says.