tise for the Curation and Management of Archaeo-
logical Collections enlisted federal, state, and local
agencies in archaeological management and exhibi-
tion.
Illicit Trade and Forgeries Along with the exciting
archaeological discoveries came a host of individuals
who tried to cash in on the profit that was to be made
from looting, illicit trade, improper collecting prac-
tices, and forgeries. In 1994, Sotheby’s, the presti-
gious New York auction house, offered items for sale
that were later shown to have been plundered from
Sipan in Peru. In 1996, Michael Ward, a member of
the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee, was
forced to return fifty illegally obtained Mycenaean
jewelry pieces to the Greek government. In 1998,
U.S. Customs returned sixty-nine smuggled pre-
Columbian artifacts to Costa Rica. In 1999, the
J. Paul Getty Museum returned three antiquities to
Italy after it was discovered that they had been sto-
len. According to the Archaeological Institute of
America, looting reached “crisis” proportions dur-
ing the 1990’s. Forgery was so commonplace that it
was the subject of an exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1996.
Impact The decade of the 1990’s brought develop-
ments in archaeological approaches and technology
that changed the way archaeologists work, think
about the past, and plan for the future. An ever-
increasing number of professionally trained archae-
ologists employed scientific developments that pro-
vided more precise results. Archaeologists began to
work alongside anthropologists, historians, geolo-
gists, botanists, and zoologists, creating a fuller,
richer, more accurate picture of the past than ever
thought possible. In addition, the intense public scru-
tiny of archaeological procedures, collecting prac-
tices, forgery, and illicit trade activities set the stage
for a more ethical and more responsible future.
Further Reading
Fagan, Brian M.Ancient North America.2d ed. New
York: Thames and Hudson, 1995. This book, writ-
ten by one of America’s foremost historians,
chronicles the archaeology of North America
starting with its earliest inhabitants.
Lyman, R. Lee, and Michael J. O’Brien.Measuring
Time with Artifacts: A Histor y of Methods in American
Archaeology.Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
- Scholarly yet accessible explanation of the
techniques, procedures, and methodologies that
archaeologists employ to study artifacts and un-
derstand cultures across time.
Murtagh, William J.Keeping Time: The Histor y and
Theor y of Preservation in America.Hoboken, N.J.:
John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Written by the first
Keeper of the National Register of Historic
Places, this book traces the history of preserva-
tion from early efforts to save major historical
sites to current civic activist movements.
Zimmerman, Larry J, Karen D. Vitelli, and Julie
Hollowell-Zimmer, eds.Ethical Issues in Archaeol-
ogy.Walnut Creek, Calif.: Altamira Press, 2003. An
edited volume of articles on ethics-related topics
in association with the Society for American Ar-
chaeology.
Sonia SorrellSee also African Americans; Architecture; Inter-
net; Inventions; Native Americans; Science and tech-
nology; Search engines; World Wide Web. Archer Daniels Midland
scandal
The Event The corporation conspires with
foreign competitors to illegally fix prices on
food additives used for both animal and human
consumption
Date 1992-1998
The criminal actions of Archer Daniels Midland and their
foreign counterparts allowed the creation of an unprece-
dented monopoly in the agriculture industr y, netting mil-
lions of dollars in illegal profits. It was because of this par-
ticular case that federal investigators have now become
privy to the pervasive nature and scope of illegal price fix-
ing both domestically and globally.
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is a conglomeration
of various agriculturally based businesses headquar-
tered in Decatur, Illinois, but boasts more than 270
branch plants worldwide. Specializing in the pro-
cessing of grains and oilseeds for creation of various
products used in beverages (such as alcohol and soft
drinks), foods, industrial fuel, cleaning products, vi-
tamins, and animal feed, ADM became known in the
agriculture business as the “supermarket to the
world.”
However, during the mid-1990’s ADM conspired46 Archer Daniels Midland scandal The Nineties in America