The Looting Blog

I have just come across Nathan Craig and Margaret Brown Vega's "Looting" photoblog. By way of introduction to the somewhat telling photographs of the effects of the exploitation of ancient sites (in this case ancient burial grounds) as a source of dugup collectables for the antiquity market, they write:

The word huaca (also waka) is a quechua word that refers to an ancient site or sacred place. To huaquear is 'to loot'...huaqueando - looting. This site will be dedicated to providing a graphic image of destruction of archaeological sites caused by looting.

I really do not think we are seeing the effects of looters opening graves to find metal objects and bullion to sell as scrap as so often claimed by collectors. they seem to have been after the sort of well-preserved organic material such as textiles which we commonly see sold on the antiquities market. The bits left behind are the less saleable pieces. Shocking photographs, worrying implications. You won't see this blog discussed on the coiney websites I'll bet.