New research has confirmed that the commonly repeated statement that the illicit antiquities trade is the third largest illicit trade in the world is unsupported by evidence.This factoid has been in circulation since the 1970s, and is regularly repeated in academic articles, popular press and even policy literature.As such, it has largely been accepted to be true by scholars, the general public and legislative bodies."The claim that the illicit trade in antiquities is the third largest, second only to arms and narcotics, is widely repeated," state the authors, but "the claim is not based on any original research or statistics,...
