Research on archaeological poaching and methods for its police and legal pursuit
Archaeological poaching, crimes against archaeological heritage, are the object of a university research study. These are crimes that go back to the sacks in Ancient Egypt tombs and reach the current traffickers who trade stolen goods online. The operation and typology of these criminals, as well as the methodology for their police and legal chase, are gathered in a new university manual published by the Prehistoric Studies and Research Seminar (SERP) of the UB and the Catalan Society of Archaeology. The author, SERP researcher Joan Carles Alay, notes that while the “treasure hunters” that are driven by the pleasure of the discovery tend to disappear, traffickers who aim to profit will continue to proliferate with the help of new technologies.
Archaeological poaching, crimes against archaeological heritage, are the object of a university research study. These are crimes that go back to the sacks in Ancient Egypt tombs and reach the current traffickers who trade stolen goods online. The operation and typology of these criminals, as well as the methodology for their police and legal chase, are gathered in a new university manual published by the Prehistoric Studies and Research Seminar (SERP) of the UB and the Catalan Society of Archaeology. The author, SERP researcher Joan Carles Alay, notes that while the “treasure hunters” that are driven by the pleasure of the discovery tend to disappear, traffickers who aim to profit will continue to proliferate with the help of new technologies.
Alay analyses the historical, economic, legal, and criminal aspects of these illegal trade activities that endanger or destroy one of the bases of the identity of societies: the archaeological heritage. The author illustrates this with examples such as the Phoenician necropolis in Cerro de San Cristóbal de Almuñecar (Granada), from the 7th century BC. Stone cups were found there, coming from the ancient Egypt, from the 15th Dynasty (1644-1537 BC). Those were objects that had been stolen from pharaonic graves and that Phoenicians got centuries after. It would be “one of the early documented cases on the international traffic of antiques”.
Alay is advisor for police forces and legal bodies and has taken part in many trials as expert. He defends the collaboration between policemen and archaeologists. In the book, he analyses the criminal profiles of archaeological poachers, as well as the methods for their chase. He says that fines and penalties for these crimes cannot be more varied depending on the part of the world where they happen. From countries where there are only ridiculous fines up to death penalty which was applied in China until 2011.
Regarding the future, Alay notes that while those who hunt archaeological pieces for pleasure are about to extinguish thanks to a higher social awareness, this is not the case for traffickers. In fact, new technologies made it possible for online auctions of stolen goods to take place, so people who steal archaeological heritage can sell it directly, with no intermediaries.
Arqueofurtivismo. Manual sobre el estudio de las intervenciones arqueológicas ilegales will be presented on Thursday, November 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Jane Addams room in the Faculty of Geography and History. The presentation includes a roundtable with the vice-rector for Heritage and Cultural Activities of the UB, Agustí Alcoberro; Josep Maria Fullola, director of SERP; Maria Àngels Petit, president of the Catalan Society of Archaeology; Xavier Mangado, professor of Prehistory of the UB; Jordi Campillo, expert on archaeological heritage; and Mercè Almeida, expert on legal support for democratic memory.