Christmas 2025

I am not going to wish anyone a Merry Christmas this year. These are dark times.

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“I came… where are the children?” Russians have killed about 700 children in Ukraine, wounded thousands, kidnapped tens of thousands.

As we celebrate Christmas this year, we must not forget about many Ukrainian families who are in pain today because of the russian aggression.… pic.twitter.com/rgmzSGm71O

— Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@rshereme) December 24, 2025

Source.

Meanwhile, in the country that we used to kid ourselves we had a 'special relationship' with.... 'ICE Detains Undocumented Parents, Newborn. They await deportation proceedings' (Charlotte Clymer, Charlotte's Web Thoughts Dec 24, 2025).  

The MAGAmerican view of History: Greenland and the US Heritage

           Greenland, not part of America         
 

The President of the United States of America, ostensibly speaking for the citizens of that country,  is renewing calls for the USA to take Greenland, the massive island controlled by Denmark, appointing a special envoy to "lead the charge" apparently to allow its territory to be taken over by the USA (Michael Loria, 'President Trump says US needs Greenland for 'national security'...', USA Today 23/12/2025). Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Any changes to that status are for Greenlanders and Danes alone to decide. Sadly the addle-brain senior citizen clearly predicates his country's foreign policy on utter ignorance: 

Trump: "We need Greenland for national protection. They have a very small population. They say Denmark, but Denmark has no military protection. They say that Denmark was there 300 years ago with a boat—well, we were there with boats too I’m sure".

Nevertheless that "we" (the United States) did not exist until 1776, just 249 years ago. On the other hand, Norse Vikings demonstrably reached Greenland around 985 AD, and Denmark established colonies there in 1721. There is very clear archaeological and historical evidence for this. US academia has, as far as I can see, resigned from a public role of being opinion formers and been pretty slow in addressing this and issuing a public information statement what THEY think the case to be (where are they?). 

In fact, the US has had a military presence in Greenland for several decades and has essentially been invited by Denmark to station there as many more troops and assets as it wishes. So the US does not "have to have" Greenland for national security. There also is, we in "Yurope" might remind Mr Trump, a binding treaty between the US and other North Atlantic nations (including Denmark) to provide a collective defence, so there is no need for him to do this. Respect for sovereignty, integrity and the inviolability of borders is the foundational principle of international law, and must be upheld by all states without exception. The US, even under Trump, should continue to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other sovereign states and to abide by their international commitments, enshrined inter alia in the United Nations Charter and the North Atlantic Treaty. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a statement that the island would decide its own future.

Meanwhile, the new Trump-appointed special envoy:

Governor Jeff Landry @LAGovJeffLandry Dec 22
Thank you @realDonaldTrump! It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S. This in no way affects my position as Governor of Louisiana!

Just to put this in context, see what an utter mess the USA has left as its heritage in Greenland from a previous occasion when they were there: Ben Panko, ' A Radioactive Cold War Military Base Will Soon Emerge From Greenland’s Melting Ice: They thought the frozen earth would keep it safely hidden. They were wrong', Smithsonian magazine August 5, 2016.

Victoria Herrmann, 'Unearthing the Arctic's Toxic Past: Camp Century and Cold War Secrets', High North News, 11.08.2016 .

Julia Rosen, 'Mysterious, ice-buried Cold War military base may be unearthed by climate change' Science.org 4 Aug 2016.

Camp Century American military base in Greenland (1959–1967) Wikipedia.

Katie Hunt, 'A doctor was deployed to an Arctic research station during the Cold War. Decades later, he learned its secret purpose' CNN, Sat March 15, 2025.

Ukrainian Border Guards Foil Coin Smuggling to Bulgaria

'Ukrainian Border Guards Stop Attempt to Smuggle Ancient Greek Coins to Bulgaria', BGNES 14.12.2025

Ukrainian border guards have stopped an attempt to smuggle ancient Greek coins out of the country to Bulgaria, The bronze coins, believed to date from approximately the 4th to the 2nd centuries BC, were discovered by officers of the Izmail Border Guard Detachment at a border crossing point. According to the authorities, a Ukrainian woman traveling to Bulgaria attempted to transport the artifacts concealed among her personal belongings. The woman did not possess the necessary permits required for the cross-border transportation of cultural or historical objects. The collection has been seized pending a court decision.

Italy Arrests Artefact Hunters Supplying the Antiquities Market

 Italian authorities announced on Friday the arrest of 34 suspected “tombaroli", or tomb raiders accused of looting artefacts from archaeological sites in Sicily and the neighbouring region of Calabria (Alvise Armellini, 'Italy arrests 34 'tomb raiders' suspected of looting archaeological sites' Reuters,  December 12, 2025).  According to information released by the Catania prosecutors’ office, in raids in Sicily, authorities seized approximately 10,000 archaeological artefacts, among them about 7,000 coins issued by various Greek city-states that once existed in ancient Sicily. Also seized were "hundreds of clay and terracotta vases, as well as bronze rings, brooches, and arrowheads". Prosecutors have estimated the total value of the recovered items at "around 17 million euros ($20 million)". Nine individuals were placed in pre-trial detention and a further 14 under house arrest in Sicily,on charges including criminal conspiracy, theft of cultural property, trafficking in stolen goods, and counterfeiting, according to police and prosecutors. A clandestine lab was also discovered a  in the eastern Sicilian province of Catania that  produced fake ancient coins, pottery and copper artefacts. Also seized were some presumed looted coins in Germany, where they had been smuggled for resale. 

In Calabria, two people were put in pre-trial detention and nine under house arrest on similar charges. Prosecutors from the town of Catanzaro said the suspects had operated with the "implicit consent" of a local Ndrangheta mafia clan. The suspects kept phone contacts to a minimum for fear of being wiretapped, and used agricultural code words in their conversations, such as "asparagus" or "fennel", to disguise their illicit activities, prosecutors said. In the suspects' lingo, "chainsaw" stood for "metal detector", they added. 

I  think two features are of especial interest in this one. First of all yet another case where gangs of  portable antiquities middlemen being actively engaged in fake production to bulk out the material they supply to dealers. Some of whom (because what else are they going to do with them, once bought?),  will sell them on to unsuspecting buyers as originals. Secondly this is the second case in a matter of weeks that investigators have gone after the (German) coin dealers who buy this illicit material and pass it onto the market. Let's see more of this - but this time with arrests. 

Yet Another British Museum Theft

Tess de la Mare, 'Hundreds of items taken in high-value museum raid' BBC 11/12/2025
More than 600 culturally significant artefacts have been stolen from the Bristol Museum’s archive in what police have described as a high-value raid. The theft occurred in the early hours of 25 September at the museum’s archive facility in the Cumberland Basin area of the city. Items taken include military memorabilia, jewellery, natural history specimens, and carved figurines made of ivory, bronze, and silver. Detectives have released CCTV images of four men seen in the area following the theft of part of the museum’s British Empire and Commonwealth collection. Avon and Somerset Police said they want to speak to the men in connection with the incident. A museum spokesman said staff discovered the theft the following day and described the scene as devastating. “It looked like it had been ransacked,” he said. “Boxes had been opened and spilled, shelves were in disarray, and collections were scattered across the floor.” The stolen objects form part of the former British Empire and Commonwealth Museum collection, which was donated to Bristol Museum after the museum went into liquidation in 2013. Among the items taken were military badges and pins from the East India Company. The city council confirmed that the archive was broken into twice, with around 95% of the items stolen during the second raid. The CCTV images released by police relate to that second incident.

Why was the news released so late? The theft occurred in September, but the public appeal and detailed disclosure only came in December, apparently to allow police to complete initial inquiries and for museum staff to audit and confirm exactly what was missing.

Operation METHODICAL: Protecting London’s Art During a Nuclear Attack

 

On the 6 November 1972, detailed orders were issued by HQ United Kingdom Land Forces for the removal of major national art treasures from London in the event of a nuclear attack on the UK. The codeword METHODICAL was given to this operation. Lessons for evacuating significant works of art from London during the Second World War had been adapted and expanded for re-use during the Cold War, which also saw considerations for collections in both Edinburgh and Cardiff. 

Given that the international security context has shifted back towards competition and state-on-state conflict from one of international terrorism and state failure in the post-Cold War era, perhaps now is the time to reconsider how nationally important artworks and collections can be safeguarded and their security integrated into homeland defence planning. 

Full article:  Operation METHODICAL: Protecting London’s Art During a Nuclear Attack

 

New Iraqi Museum Planned

 

The Iraqi government revealed on Saturday that preparations are underway to build a new national museum to showcase artifacts from multiple eras of Mesopotamian civilization. Speaking at the Inclusivity of Contemporary Tourist Destinations conference in Baghdad, Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities Ahmed al-Badri considered the meaning of the country's archaeological heritage and announced that a location has already been selected for the new museum, and that Iraq has recovered a large number of looted artifacts taken during successive periods of conflict. “What we have in storage exceeds what is currently on display,” he said. Iraq’s antiquities were heavily affected by looting after 2003 and during the takeover by vrious rebel groups of northern areas, where it is believed attempts were made to traffic artefacts to finance their operations. Officials have reported that many stolen artifacts resurfaced on the black market during ISIS’s occupation of Mosul, where the group controlled nearly 2,000 archaeological sites. Since 2008, the United States has returned more than 1,200 pieces, while other repatriations have been happening regularly.

Despite the Antiquities Trade being State-Controlled

Chris Stringer (@ChrisStringer65) on Twitter Dec 2, 2025 Astonishing collection of >4000 Neolithic artefacts that artist Ai WeiWei collected from street markets in China (@DesignMuseum 2023).

hat tip:  Reid Farmer (TR_Farmer_archaeology)