Elgin Marbles Poll

[Medicus matt]

I am sure that British people wouldnt like to have parts of the Stonehedge all over Europe.

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest, Stonehenge itself is very, very dull and it gets in the way of the interesting landscape surrounding it.

Swap?

On a more serious point, as it stands, anyone can go to see the marbles (and many thousands of other fascinating pieces) at the BM for free, can photograph them without restriction and can get to within mere inches of them to study them in detail. Would the same be the case if they were rehoused in the Akropolis museum?

The BM COULD make a great deal of money from it's collections by prohibiting photography, forcing visitors into buying postcards, expensive catalogues etc. It chooses not to, and it should be applauded for that attitude and for the sterling work that it has done (and continues to do) in preserving items from cultures the world over that might otherwise have been lost forever, rather than held up as being some sort of hangover of rapacious Imperialism.