她曾是越战战场上最年轻的持证记者，在炮火和尸骸间穿行。她在逼近红色高棉的前线送别恋人，那竟成了世人见到对方的最后一面。她在香港鸦片成瘾，在曼谷郊外被一辆运米卡车碾过——对方还倒了车，又碾了她一遍。她失去了一条腿，最终活了下来。

可就是这么一位被命运反复「退货」的人，最终死在了一个最不该死的地方：一座发达国家、现代都市的公立机构中。2008年5月，从被不明不白地关进看守所，到被装进裹尸袋抬出来，前后不过五天。她到死也没有被定罪；死后几天时间，案件就宣告撤销。

她到底是谁？她是凭一篇硕士论文就为整个东南亚陶瓷学开疆拓土的传奇学者，是五十多岁才去读博、同学却早已在课堂上读着她著作的人，是反对盗墓、四处奔走呼吁文物保护的考古学家，也是联邦探员的卧底和线人。

而在那场牵出上万件非法文物、代号「古董行动」的惊天大案中，她是参与最浅的一个，却是唯一被捕、也是唯一死去的那个。更荒诞的是：抓她的人，正是当年拉她做卧底的人。

为什么偏偏是她？在她生命的最后五天，到底发生了什么？一个在炼狱中都没倒下的人，为什么最后倒在了美国的都市中？

身在科隆的可达与身在上海的汉洋，将顺着一份没能讲完的讲座、一摞矛盾重重的卷宗，走进那座雍容优雅、暗流汹涌的黑暗森林。

1968 年的罗姗娜·布朗（来源：Seattle Weekly）

2007 年前后的罗姗娜·布朗（来源：Southeast Asian Archaeology）

罗姗娜·布朗《东南亚瓷器》1977 年牛津大学出版社第一版封面

罗姗娜·布朗 2004 年博士论文中研究的东南亚沉船

参考资料与延伸阅读

学术著作

Brown, Roxanna M. The Ceramics of South-East Asia: Their Dating and Identification. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1977.

Brown, Roxanna M., ed. Guangdong Ceramics from Butuan and Other Philippine Sites. Manila: Oriental Ceramic Society of the Philippines, in association with Oxford University Press, 1989.

Brown, Roxanna M. "History of Shipwreck Excavation in Southeast Asia." In The Belitung Wreck: Sunken Treasures from Tang China, 42–55. 2004.

Brown, Roxanna M. "The Ming Gap and Shipwreck Ceramics in Southeast Asia." PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 2004.

Miksic, John N. Southeast Asian Ceramics: New Light on Old Pottery. Singapore: Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, 2009.

新闻报道

Anderson, Rick. "Was Roxanna Brown an Art-World Fraud?" Seattle Weekly, October 28, 2008.

Carter, Mike. "Asian-Antiquities Expert Held in SeaTac Dies in Custody." Seattle Times, May 15, 2008.

Carter, Mike. "U.S. Pays $880,000 in Death of Detained Antiquities Expert." Seattle Times, July 7, 2009.

Chang, Richard. "Museum Director Dies in Custody." Orange County Register, May 15, 2008.

Charnes, Lance. "Operation Antiquity: From Thailand with Love." Criminal Element, March 30, 2017.

Faturechi, Robert. "Lawsuit Filed in Death of Roxanna Brown, Held at Federal Detention Center." Seattle Times, July 15, 2008.

Felch, Jason. "A Passion for Art, a Perilous Pursuit." Los Angeles Times, September 11, 2008.

Felch, Jason. "Her Career Revived, Scholar Turns Tipster." Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2008.

Felch, Jason. "Once an Aid in a Federal Probe, Antiquities Scholar Becomes a Key Target." Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2008.（以上三篇是合集题为“A Life in Shards”的系列报道）

Felch, Jason. "Raids Suggest a Deeper Network of Looted Art." Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2008.

Felch, Jason. "Stolen-Artifacts Case Has Cost Much, Yielded Little, Critics Say." Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2013.

Felch, Jason, and Mike Boehm. "Probe of Stolen Art Goes National." Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2008.

Fincham, Derek. "Complex Profile of Roxanna Brown." Illicit Cultural Property (blog), September 13, 2008.

Fincham, Derek. "Death in Antiquities Arrest." Illicit Cultural Property (blog), May 15, 2008.

Fincham, Derek. "More on the California Searches." Illicit Cultural Property (blog), January 25, 2008.

News Desk. "Roxanna Brown, Asian Art Expert, Dies in Government Custody." Artforum, May 15, 2008.

Pool, Bob. "Asian Art Expert Dies in Custody." Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2008.

Rosenblum, Mort. "Roxanna Brown: How Can This Happen in America?" Huffington Post, July 26, 2008.

美国司法部文件

U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California. "Asian Antiquities Expert Indicted for Wire Fraud." Press release no. 08-057, May 12, 2008.

讣告

University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Southeast Asian Studies. "In Memoriam: Roxanna Maude Brown."

明代空白期——中文研究

江建新. "历代官窑拾珍考究——1979–2018年景德镇御窑厂遗址考古调查与发掘主要收获." 景德镇陶瓷, no. 5 (2020): 12–35.

李慧. "明早期景德镇御器厂彩瓷的生产——以御窑遗址考古发现及传世品为中心." 故宫博物院院刊, no. 5 (2018): 100–114, 161–162.

李兆云, 张文江, 林海南. "从江西地区明代空白期纪年墓看瓷器的流通." 南方文物, no. 2 (2023): 102–112.

刘淼. "明代前期海禁政策下的瓷器输出." 考古, no. 4 (2012): 84–91, 109.

刘毅. "明代景德镇瓷业"空白期"研究." 南方文物, no. 3 (1994): 55–61.

秦大树. ""景德镇明清制瓷业研究的新成果"栏目导读." 收藏家, no. 8 (2025): 2.

秦大树, 高宪平. "景德镇明代"空白期"窑业遗存的考古学探索与新认知." 中国陶瓷 56, no. 9 (2020): 63–77.