[Jan Fisher]

There has been an ongoing debate for decades that the UK should return the Parthenon marbles to their original home in Greece.

For those who aren’t across the debate, the Parthenon marbles are a bunch of statues and sculptures taken from Greece in the early years of the 19th century and moved to England.

They were removed with the assistance of Thomas Bruce, the Earl of Elgin, who said he had permission, but that claim now looks somewhat shaky.

Anyway, the Greeks want them back, saying they are of exceptional cultural importance.

The current owners, the British Museum say they were obtained legally and returning them would set a precent that could undermine their collections and consequently, everyone is at a standstill.

Anyone who has watched Stuff the British Stole on the ABC will know the UK has some dodgy claims to some of its ‘treasures’.

What do you think, should museums hand back their collections to the original owners?

[Wendy]

Yes I think they should do the right thing and hand them back – all of them. They would be returning stolen property.

[JEPY]

Definitely NO! They are not just ‘national treasures’ they are “humankind treasures”, which transcend changing national boundaries. Many of the countries from which these treasures came from, especially but not only third world counties, do not have the means and often the will to look after them properly or allow them to be studied. Some countries even actively destroy them for pseudo-religious reasons as being pagan. As an archaeologist who has visited many museums around the world I am shocked to see many ‘museums’ as little more than derelict warehouses.

[Author]

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