Cambodia’s Blood Antiquities: A Case Study by AC Executive Director Tess Davis
March 29, 2025
The seat of the once-mighty Khmer Empire, Cambodia is home to one of the world’s richest cultural legacies. This inheritance was threatened in the late 20th century under the Khmer Rouge, when Cambodia’s people and patrimony were devastated by war and plunder.
Enterprising individuals like the infamous antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford exploited the chaos, trafficking looted treasures out of Cambodia and into the global art market. These so-called blood antiquities—cultural objects looted from archaeological sites or stolen from collections in conflict zones to finance hostilities or for personal gain—funded criminal networks and deprive Cambodians of their history to this day.
In a chapter for The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict, Antiquities Coalition Executive Director, Tess Davis and Simon Mackenzie explore the illicit trade in conflict antiquities in Cambodia. This case study profiles Douglas Latchford to trace how cultural racketeering thrived amid war, genocide, and weak governance, and the lasting scars it left on Cambodia’s heritage.
While Cambodia has achieved major successes in reclaiming its cultural patrimony, many looted statues and artifacts remain scattered in Western museums and on the international art market.
Check out “Looting and Conflict in Cambodia: The Latchford Case”.
Dive deeper into Latchford’s story with the Dynamite Doug podcast.
Learn more about Cambodia’s fight to recover its stolen heritage.