Noted Archaeologist Links Destruction of Antiquities to Development

I recently noted,

Archaeologists often claim that collecting is the driving force behind looting. I would instead suggest that looting is far more likely to be a byproduct of development. When roads or dams are built, unofficial "salvage archaeology' often takes place, which in fact may save some of the artifacts (if not their context) from destruction.

See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2009/12/china-loses-thousands-of-historic-sites.html

Now, a noted Israeli archaeologist has now also stated that

The truth is, with the possible exception of Iraq, ... most damage and destruction of antiquities has been caused by development in all countries, under their governments' auspices.

See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ANE-2/message/11951

Instead of blaming collectors-- who share their desire to preserve, study and display artifacts from the past-- archaeological groups should acknowledge that development has led to the loss of archaeological context and the appearance of fresh artifacts in the trade. Once this fact is acknowledged, archaeologists should then change their focus to working with finders and source governments to ensure that such artifacts are at least properly recorded. The current operating assumption that what is deemed to be looting relates to criminal activity has only driven this activity underground.

China Loses Thousands of Historic Sites

Archaeologists often claim that collecting is the driving force behind looting. I would instead suggest that looting is far more likely to be a byproduct of development. When roads or dams are built, unofficial "salvage archaeology' often takes place, which in fact may save some of the artifacts (if not their context) from destruction.

In China, this is certainly the case. According to a recent article, some 30,000 items on a 1982 list have vanished, in large part due to China's aggressive development. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/14/china-historic-sites-survey

Some experts think the problem is even greater than official surveys suggest. The article quotes He Shuzhong, of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, as stating,

The last 20 years have been the worst time for cultural heritage site protection with the rapid development," he said. "It is even worse than in the Cultural Revolution – then, most damage was to movable items, but not to ancient tombs or buildings or old towns. For example, many ancient tombs have been robbed and in the [redevelopment] of old towns many old buildings have been demolished. Beijing used to have 25 protection areas and I believe only half of them are still well protected now.