How do you irk an Archeologist?

[Timo]

Tomb raiders crack 2000-year-old vault
From correspondents in Beijing
February 10, 2005



CHINESE archaeologists unearthed a rare 2000-year-old tomb only to find nothing left in the main chamber but a modern pair of gloves, state media reported today.

The tomb in Xi'an, the imperial capital of the Han Dynasty which ruled between 206 BC and 220 AD, is approached by a long path dug 11m underground and sheathed with sand walls.



But when excited archaeologists entered the main chamber they found robbers had beaten them to it, Xinhua news agency reported.



"Robbers figured out how to sneak into the tomb by digging up from below," Xiao Jianyi, an archaeologist with the Shaanxi Provincial Relics and Archaeology Institute, said.

"Nothing is left inside the main chamber, except a pair of modern gloves."




Much of China's cultural heritage is fast disappearing with ancient sites regularly damaged or destroyed for relics which are smuggled overseas to meet booming demand.

Despite their disappointment in the main chamber, archaeologists discovered two side chambers intact.

Rare pieces of China were discovered in one, including five vessels believed to be wine glasses. In the other, large quantities of lacquer and bronze ware were found, Xinhua said. The tomb belonged to a high-ranking aristocrat.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...5E1702,00.html

[Dr. Solar Wolff]

A former friend spent time assisting someone unearth Roman graves for grave-goods near Trier. The man was making a good living as a tomb raider before this was outlawed. How do you guys feel about tomb raiders? Digging up Indian burial sites once was great sport among Americans.

[Timo]

The part of me who loves, acheology, science, and history says that is wrong, and that people should respect our historical artifacts and let the world view, examine and discover them. Though, there is another part that is of the mind, whoever gets to the find first gets to keep it.

[Ebusitanus]

You have no idea what destroying or taking apart such archeological remains do to history. You destroy or take pieces out of its context you are seriously injuring the chance to learn more about ourselves. Rare coins, rings, ancient armor or weapons can make a whole history unfold..you discover a Roman burial area north of the Danube or east of the Rhine and it would make history...you loot such a place and keep or sell the spoils you are not only keeping materials of possibily great monentary colectionist value, you are also destroying a great wealth of possible history to all of us who live in the west. Even if some of those looted chinese treasure pop up, they will have lost much of its value on how they were located inside the tomb, had perhaps grain or inciense or food residues that could have been analitzed unspoilt by open air contact.
While I support totally much more fundings to the economicaly strained oficial archologists, we cant just unearth stuff just for the hell of it (or greed) without aknowledging that you are doing more than looting, you are destroying a dig with possible clues to our own collective past.

[Timo]

I agree Ebu, but there is still a part of me that thinks thinks... "If you snooze, you loose" or "Finders keepers, loosers weepers." Meaning if you aren't the first to find the stuff, it's your own fault. Though, I am sure if archeology was funded as it should be, they would be at every possible site and beating the grave robbers to the find every time. It all has to do with money. I think the robbers are better funded, yet smaller in number, so they beat the archeologist to the dig sometimes. I still think it should be illegal and on the level of Ivory Poaching, you know, killing elephants for their horns and selling it on the black market. Totally dispicable crimes, both are.

[Ebusitanus]

The famous recent German sundisk of 3000 BC was one of such looted items from an unknown place. The dealer who was pushing it for several thousands of dollars in Switzerland did not even know himself where or what he had there. An Archeologist working for the police became aware of the value of the piece (and several others from the same loot) and eventually recovered the piece while arresting the vendor, but as valuable as the item is, we have lost the conection with the place where it was digged up.
Of course archeological finds should get rewarded by the Goverment so that causal discoveries get a deserved archeological survey instead of a good priece at Ebay.

[Agrippa]

I was an official digger for a short time, was interesting btw.

But the illegal actions destroy material of scientific importance, nothing good at all though its no capital crime at all, at least usually. There are exceptions because some things are probably more important and valuable than others.

300 year old Indian tombs might not be that interesting like 4000 year old European hill tombs or 10.000 years old American tombs...