The British Museum’s Roger Bland looks at the successes of the U.K.’s Treasure Act and Portable Antiquities Scheme, legislation aimed at curbing the looting of historic sites while guaranteeing that those who find treasure are compensated.

Bland is head of the Department of Portable Antiquities and Treasures of the United Kingdom and is the American Institute of Archaeology’s Metcalf Lecturer for 2011-2012.