New Study Revealed Looting Continuing in Syria

Jesse Casana et al, Remote Sensing-Based Analysis of Archaeological Site Damage in Syria: Revisiting a Post-War Landscape, Heritage (2026). DOI: 10.3390/heritage9060209

Amy Olson, 'Syria's ancient sites face widespread looting and systematic bulldozing, satellite images reveal'.     

[...] Relying on an expanding suite of satellite imagery resources, this paper presents a renewed analysis of looting and archaeological site damage in Syria over the past decade. The results reveal: (1) severe damage to many sites in northern Syria from a novel form of mechanized looting, (2) intensified impacts from the establishment of military facilities or refugee camps on many prominent sites, and (3) rampant incidents of small-scale looting across all areas of the country. These results highlight the importance of ongoing imagery-based heritage monitoring efforts and will support emerging mitigation, stabilization, and damage assessment efforts in Syria going forward.