The Destruction of the Archaeological Heritage of Cyprus

Sophocles Hadjisavvas (Department of Antiquities of Cyprus)

Tomb looting in Cyprus has a tradition of over 3000 years but since 1964 has intensified, particularly after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974. Since then it is estimated that more than 60,000 ancient artefacts have been illegally transferred to different countries of the world, together with perhaps another 16,000 icons and mosaics stolen from churches. In one case it is known that an auction house in London offered antiquities stolen from a registered collection, although most of the unprovenanced antiquities offered are probably from illegal excavations. The Cypriot police have recently established a specialized art squad and campaigns of public awareness are carried out by the Department of Antiquities and the Ministry of Education and Culture. In April 1999 a bilateral agreement was signed with the United States to protect Byzantine antiquities.

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Some Remarks on the Destruction of Turkey’s Archaeological Heritage

Engin Özgen (Hacattepe University, Ankara)

Regions in the south, east and southeast of Turkey are open to constant looting by local people suffering from economic hardship. In 1997, 565 people were arrested who had more than 10,000 objects in their possession but the actual number of unrecovered, illegally excavated objects must be three times that number. To stop the illicit trade it would be necessary improve the present laws and make available the resources necessary for their enforcement, develop an understanding of Turkey’s cultural heritage by education at school, and prepare a proper documentation of the country’s archaeology in readiness for a possible bilateral agreement with the USA.

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Mexico

Jaime Litvak King (Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)

The looting of archaeological and historical sites for supply of illegal private collections has been quite frequent in Latin America for many years. Its causes have, however, not always been the same. It began with antiquities from sites in the estates of collectors. The formation of an urban élite made owning antiquities a mark of aristocracy. Agrarian reform increased the numbers of antiquities found and one consequence was the growth of professional groups of dealers. Today the problem is further complicated by the tourist trade and industrial development. The international market is further boosted by the looting on a massive scale of antiquities in countries with internal wars, where their sale helps to fund the fighting.

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Collecting the Classical World: the Idea of a Quantitative History

Christopher Chippindale (University of Cambridge), David Gill (University of Wales, Swansea), Emily Salter & Christian Hamilton (University of Cambridge)

The authors pose the queston: Are the objects in present times being extracted from archaeological sites and surfacing without record of their archaeology and history a small, or even an inconsequential proportion of what has survived from ancient times to the present? Or are they an overwhelming proportion — to the point that productive new understanding of these ancient objects and of the societies they record has become or will shortly become impossible?

After presenting the results of four
quantitative studies (Cycladic figurines, contemporary classical collections, movement of classical material through auction houses, long-term history of a classical museum collection) they tend towards the latter view, that the material consequences of collecting have been very damaging.

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Destruction of the Archaeological Heritage: Illicit Excavation in Contemporary China

He Shuzhong (National Administration on Cultural Heritage)

The archaeological heritage in China has been damaged seriously by illicit excavation during the past ten years. In Inner Mongolia, for instance, the area of the Neolithic Hongshan Culture, about which very little is known, it is estimated that at least 4000 tombs, and perhaps as many as 15,000, have been illegally excavated. Underwater sites too are being attacked with increasing frequency. Although China has ratified international conventions on the protection of the cultural heritage and the customs service is active it is still difficult to stop the looting of archaeological sites. Educational initiatives have been successful but more are needed.

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Apulian Vases

Rick Elia (Boston University)

In another quantitative study the author focuses upon the red-figure vases of Apulia, Italy, which have been comprehensively catalogued by Professors Trendall and Cambitoglou. Only 753 of these vases were recovered during an archaeological excavation, the remaining 13,000 are without contextual information, and to produce them several thousands of ancient tombs must have been plundered. Much of this looting has probably been carried out over the past ten years. Sixty per cent of all known Apulian vases are no longer in Italy. Most are sold in Britain or the United States.

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Examples from Kenya and Somalia

George H.O. Abungu (National Museums of Kenya)

With the opening up of the world market in antiquities and the realization that Africa has a rich but unprotected heritage, the dealers have descended on the continent. They operate through middle persons who come from within local communities and who do not feel tied to the customary or traditional beliefs which have in the past protected sites. The wars in Africa have also created a conducive atmosphere for this destruction. Even in countries subject to the rule of law, some sites are located in remote and ungovernable areas making it easier for looters to operate. Population pressure and unemployment coupled with the quick money emanating from antiquities dealing have not helped the situation.

Archaeological heritage — seen as cultural heritage in developing countries — is not the priority health, education, water, and job creation are to governments. It will take some time to sensitize governments on the role of archaeology or, for that matter, culture, in the development of a national or social identity. The destruction of archaeological heritage is a problem for the international community.

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Destruction of Archaeological Heritage in Tanzania: the Cost of Ignorance

Bertram B.B. Mapunda (History Department, University of Dar es Salaam)

Illegal excavation for valuable artefacts is not a very serious problem in Tanzania although some sites, including rock shelters, especially those with art, are damaged by people digging for ‘hoards’ which are rumoured to have been buried in colonial times and before. Sites are also vandalized and accidently destroyed by large construction projects or by smaller agricultural improvement at a local level. These problems are amplified by the lack of a clear law requiring land developers to conduct archaeological impact assessment and to adhere to mitigation measures thereafter.

Over 85 per cent of Tanzania is rural, and a good number of its archaeological sites are located in rural areas, so that they will always be in danger until the rationale of fully involving local communities in heritage resource management is recognized.

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Niger

Boubé Gado (Institut de Recherches Sciences Humaines, Université de Naimey)

In the north of Niger, which is mainly desert, palaeontological and prehistoric sites, when exposed, are damaged by individual collectors, some unauthorized. The situation is more serious in the southwest of the country where historical sites are particularly attractive to looters. The situation was made worse by the international ‘Valleys of the Niger’ exhibition which toured France and West Africa and brought to the attention of western collectors the funerary art from sites in the area of Bura. Looting of these sites has since 1994 been systematic and it is estimated that 90 per cent have been damaged.

The protection of the cultural heritage should happen through its integration into the process of development. This would promote the judicious exploitation of archaeological resources by creating long-term employment opportunities through craft production and tourism for the local population.

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Looting of Archaeological Sites in Italy

Giovanni Pastore (Carabinieri for the Protection of Artistic Heritage)

Experience in Italy has shown the existence of criminal organizations involved with the illicit trade. Antiquities leave Italy by road, perhaps in refrigerated trucks which are not carefully checked, or hidden in shipments of modern replicas. Some Swiss towns, for example Geneva, are important places of distribution where Italian antiquities enter the international market. Archaeologists inadvertently help the trade by acquiring unprovenanced pieces for museum and university collections and by authenticating pieces. The Section of Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage was formed in 1969 and has units in areas at risk of looting. They patrol their relevant jurisdictions and monitor the market for stolen material. Over the years the Carabinieri have recovered about 326,000 archaeological itmes from illegal excavations. Over the past five years 99,970 were recovered in Italy and 1297 abroad. At the G8 Conference held in Bonn this year it was decided to consider crimes against the cultural heritage alongside the traffic in drugs, human body parts and weapons, and money laundering.

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Looting and the Market for Maya Objects: a Belizean Perspective

Elizabeth Gilgan (Boston University)

Although there has been legislation concerned with protecting and preserving cultural material in Belize since the late 1800s, looting and illegal exportation of artefacts still occur. Sandwiched between Mexico and Guatemala, Belize is in a prime location to serve as a transit point for illegal export of Pre-Columbian material from neighbouring countries. Currently the Department of Antiquities is working on drafting a request to the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee to impose a ban on imports from Belize which will also help to halt the flow of antiquities from Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize.

A study of Sotheby’s catalogues from 1971 to 1999 shows that only three out of 3209 Maya objects recorded specify Belize as a provenanace. 1788 list no information at all about location but there are reasons to suspect that possibly as many as 2153 artefacts originated in Belize.

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Antiquities without Archaeology in the United Kingdom

Peter Addyman (York Archaeological Trust)

British laws relating to portable antiquities are among the least prescriptive in the world. Objects found on the 13,000 or so Scheduled Ancient Monuments may not be removed except by an approved archaeological excavation but otherwise, in general, antiquities belong to the owner of the land on which they are found and may be removed by the owner. Thus their removal may not be illicit but may be damaging nevertheless. A survey by English Heritage reported that, between 1988–94, 188 sites of their sites were damaged by metal detectorists, often working at night. The Portable Antiquities Recording Scheme was instituted in 1997 and now has twelve recording officers. In one county alone — Kent — 100,000 objects were reported in one year, 43 per cent were coins. The way forward for protecting Britain’s archaeological heritage is seen to be by raising public awareness. The network of Portable Antiquities Liason Officers now being established will endeavour to educate the public about the value of the heritage and the need to safeguard it.

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Protecting the Past for the Future: Federal Archaeology in the United States

Veletta Canouts & Francis P. McManamon (National Park Service)

In 1979 it was estimated that nine out of every ten known archaeological sites in the United States had been disturbed, although the statistics to back up this claim are difficult to come by. Activities that disturb and destroy sites run along a continuum from land development and resource extraction to commercial looting and intentional vandalism. In a study of mounds in the Lower Mississippi region it was shown that looting was second to agriculture in causing
destruction by a factor of almost 2 to 1, 2282 mounds to 1198 respectively. The looting of Native American graves at Slack Farm in Kentucky caused such an outcry that it provided the impetus for new state legislation in Kentucky and Indiana, and helped the passage through Congress of the Native American Graves Protection Act (NAGPRA). Many artefacts are now being purchased by European and perhaps Japanese collectors.

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Threat to Cultural Sites in India from Illegal Excavations: Case Studies, Problems and Solutions

Ajai Shankar (Archaeological Survey of India)

Illegal excavation for personal gain is one of the major causes of destruction of the cultural heritage. Many examples could be reported, such as the village of Katingra, Uttar Pradesh where moulded bricks and panels which contain inscriptions from the epic Ramayana are probably from a temple of the Gupta period. Stolen objects have often been recovered from individuals and institutions in the United States and Europe, such as an eighth-century sculpture of Buddha, which disappeared from Bihar between 1987–89 and was recovered from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1999. The Indian Government in 1972 passed the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act which provides for the compulsory registration of notified categories of antiquities, regulation of export and other protective measures. India is a signatory of the 1970 UNESCO Convention and encourages other nations which have not yet done so to ratify this Convention.

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The Destruction of the Cultural Heritage of Thailand and Cambodia

Rachanie Thosarat (Fine Arts Department, Thailand)

In Thailand the evidence of looting is patchy, but in some areas is severe. The continuing destruction of prehistoric sites is such that it is now perhaps impossible to investigate the Neolithic and Bronze Ages properly. In the Bangkok plain whole sites are sluiced for beads and other small items and virtually none remains intact. The Thai Fine Arts Department has realized the importance of involving local people in protection and has plans to create local museums in each province so that finds might be kept locally instead of being ‘lost’ to the National Museum.

Historic sites in Thailand are better protected but they are being badly looted in Cambodia. Famous Angkor period temples such as Banteay Chmar and Angkor Borei are being systematically dismembered. Even at Angkor itself the Conservation compound was attacked in 1993 by 300 armed bandits. Looted material is normally shipped overland through Thailand to Bangkok.

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Destruction, Looting and Traffic of Peru’s Archaeological Patrimony

Walter Alva (Museo Arqueologico National Bruning de Lambayeque, Peru)

Since the 1960s a continuing pillage has supplied the national and international markets. A great number of collections formed in Peru between the 60s and the 80s, for ‘patriotic reasons’ have actually now disappeared —
absorbed by the market. It is estimated that 90 per cent of all ancient Peruvian gold now known in collections around the world was looted from the single site of Batan-Grande. After the looting of Sipán an agreement was reached with the United States in 1997 restricting the import of Pre-Columbian and ethnographic material from Peru. Producers and exporters of craft items often mix in archaeological pieces. Sometimes counterfeits are manufactured from archaeological material. Since the signing of the bilateral agreements with the United States the traffic now tends more to be directed towards north and central Europe. At Sipán a programme of protection initiated by the museum and carried through in collaboration with local police has reduced the numbers of looters in the area from something like 100 per site to a few individuals.

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Altering Information from the Past: Illegal Excavations in Greece, the Case of the Cyclades

Marisa Marthari (Ministry of Culture, Greece)

According to Greek law, an antiquity can only be legally exported for temporary display purposes. Illegal excavations concentrate on the Bronze Age cemeteries of southern Greece and the Iron Age cemeteries and sanctuaries of central and northern Greece.Antiquities often leave Greece in lorries, sometimes packed in watermelons, and travel to the major markets in Switzerland and Germany. The trade in antiquities and the trade in narcotics is evidently very close as the police often arrest people in possession of both. Fakes are also noticed amongst genuine pieces. The Aidonia treasure — 81 objects looted from a Mycenaean chamber tomb cemetery sometime early in the 1970s — was recovered from a gallery in New York in 1996. The archaeology of the Cyclades is known mainly from its figurines, most of which were illegally excavated and some of which are fakes. The establishment of an archaeological museum on the island of Ios, presenting the archaeology of the island in its entirety, has shown the people of the island that there is more to archaeology than figurines and, perhaps, dealt a strong blow to antiquities theft.

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The New Syrian Law on Antiquities

Ammar Abdulrahman (Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums)

The Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums has had to deal with a number of cases of illicit excavation over the past few years. In the area of the so-called ‘dead cities’, of Byzantine date, south of Aleppo, digging is carried out by squatters. More worrying is when previously excavated and important sites are attacked, such as the third-millennium
cemetery at Tell Halawa and the second-
millennium site of Meskeneh-Emar. In response to this illegal activity the Syrian Government in 1999 passed a new law on the protection of antiquities. But no law can be fully effective without the cooperation of everyone involved. Thus education at schools and universities can help diminish illegal digging and international cooperation too is essential.

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