A worldwide demand for antiquities is causing archeologists to worry. In Jordan, local farmers are earning a little extra money by robbing ancient graves of common people form the Byzantine and Bronze ages. They find bits of pottery, buckes and buttons which might net them a few dollars. Later these items will be sold in auction houses for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Archeologists claim this black market is destroying the past. When archeologists dig, they record information about their finds but grave robbers record nothing.
April 09, 2006
Grave Robbers
A worldwide demand for antiquities is causing archeologists to worry. In Jordan, local farmers are earning a little extra money by robbing ancient graves of common people form the Byzantine and Bronze ages. They find bits of pottery, buckes and buttons which might net them a few dollars. Later these items will be sold in auction houses for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Archeologists claim this black market is destroying the past. When archeologists dig, they record information about their finds but grave robbers record nothing.
