US-Israel Strikes Hit Historic Monument

Reports from Tehran say the UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace has been damaged by recent bombardments. It seems that as far as the US is concerned, cultural heritage on Iranian territory is a valid target. All parties must respect international humanitarian law and protect World Heritage for future generations. Well, of course Philistine-USA left UNESCO last year.

Most Common Iranian Artefacts on the Antiquities Market

                Mina'i ware bowl (wikipedia)              

The United States and Israel have started a war with Iran without, it now seems any clear preparration for the consequences. As with Iraq in 2003, planning for the aftermath is non-existant and the direction of this conflict is very unclear. Meanwhile, apart from the human costs of Trump's rashness, the effects on the cultural environment are going to be severe. Here I just want to consider the portable antiquities. At present, archaeological materials from the Iranian plateau have a long history of appearing in international markets. The illegal trade in these cultural goods is already a highly lucrative global industry.

Luristan Bronzes (c. 2500–700 BCE): Perhaps the most prolific Iranian artefacts on the market, these bronze objects (including horse bits, pins, cups, and animal figures) first flooded international markets in the late 1920s after being discovered by local farmers in the Zagros Mountains. They have became so abundant that they are popular acquisitions by numerous private collectors and major museums worldwide. A lot of what is offered as "Luristan" is not from tha region/culture at all, and a high quantity on the market at the (pre-US war) moment is fake, with a variety of artificial patinas.

Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BCE): Metalwork from this era, such as gold and silver jewellery, coins, and copper alloy items like arrowheads and pins, is highly sought after globally. These artifacts are valued for their craftsmanship and connection to the first major world empire.

Elamite Civilization (c. 2700–539 BCE): Elamite artifacts common in the trade include painted pottery, limestone and terracotta sculptures, and cylinder seals made of materials like lapis lazuli and chalcedony. A significant amount of unclassified Elamite material from earlier excavations remains unaccounted for or in vulnerable storage.

Jiroft Culture (Bronze Age, c. 3000 BCE): This previously unknown civilization was discovered in 2001 after flash floods in the Helil River Valley exposed ancient cemeteries. Mysterious chlorite artifacts began appearing on the antiquities market shortly after (... ahem...), leading to the identification of the site.

Sassanid Period (224–651 CE) : Artefacts from this period are perhaps not very prominent on the Market at the moment, but there is increasing interest in the glassware. In addition to ancient archaeological artifacts, several other categories of high-value cultural heritage are frequently found on the global market. These items are particularly susceptible to being smuggled when national oversight is compromised:

Persian Manuscripts and Calligraphy: Iranian manuscripts are highly sought after for their artistic and historical value, frequently appearing in auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's (for example recent sales of ilustrated copies and pages of copies of the Shahnameh (Book of Kings) and the Khamseh of Nizami). These mss feature elaborate calligraphy (Nasta'liq script), miniature paintings with vibrant opaque colours, and "unvan" (illuminated headpieces) in gold and ultramarine (lapis lazuli). Single folios torn by destructive bastards out of mss are often more common than complete codices because they are easier to smuggle and sell individually.

Glazed Decorative Tiles Tiles are frequently "harvested" from religious and historical buildings. Common Types are Lajvardina and Lustreware tiles from the Ilkhanid and Seljuk periods (12th–14th centuries), which are highly prized by collectors. Historical tiles are sometimes declared as "modern copies" at customs to bypass export bans.

Antique Persian Carpets While the modern carpet trade is legal, high-end antique carpets are frequently targets for illicit export. Common Types: Kashan, Tabriz, Isfahan, and Kerman carpets from the 16th to 19th centuries. High-end pieces often use silk foundations and asymmetric "Persian knots" to achieve extremely high knot densities.

Metalwork and Ceramics Various types, such as lustre pottery, medieval ceramics from cities like Kashan for exammple, among the metalwork, Qajar Enamels: 18th and 19th-century enamelled gold and silver objects.

In light of current regional instability, we can expect looting and smuggling to intensify. Monuments and outdoor sculptures etc. of course could be damaged by shelling, bombing or vandalism, such non-movable objects are frequently protected only by sandbags, making them vulnerable to strikes and subsequent looting of fragments.

We may also see an increase in illegal eExcavations: as we have seen recently in the Middle East especoially, economic collapse and social upheaval often drive local populations toward "graverobbing" or unauthorized digging. I

Historic precedents suggest that conflict-zone artefacts are often laundered through existing legal markets. For example, Israeli dealers were previously used to launder thousands of stolen cuneiform tablets from other Middle Eastern conflict zones for sale to U.S. collectors. Funding for Militant Groups: Trafficking in "blood antiquities" can represent a significant portion of revenue for militant groups and organized crime.

It remains to be seen, given the current wave of cultural philistinism and interference coupled with money-cutting in foreign policy of the Trump White House, whether the State Department will be able top put any measures in place to help prevent the US dealers and collectors getting mixed up in the passage of illicit artefacts that this war may generate. They really should.

'Luristan' Bronzes seized in USA

Press Release, 'Philadelphia CBP officers intercept Bronze Age swords and arrowheads from the northeastern region of Iran' 02/27/2026. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted a shipment of ancient artefacts being smuggled through Philadelphia International Airport. The swords and arrowheads date back to the Bronze Age, almost 4,000 years ago.

The shipment initially arrived on an express delivery flight from the United Arab Emirates on Oct. 16. It was destined to an address in Jacksonville, Fla. CBP officers x-rayed the shipment, which was manifested as metal decoration articles, and detected sword-like objects. Officers then opened the shipment and discovered the swords and arrowheads. Officers suspected the items to be cultural artifacts and detained the shipment for further investigation. CBP officers contacted the National Targeting Center’s Antiquities Unit, which solicited assistance from an archaeologist affiliated with a local Philadelphia university with extensive experience working in the Middle East. On Feb. 13, the archaeologist authenticated the short swords and arrowheads as antiquities dating back to the later 2nd millennium BCE, 1600-1000 BCE, from an area along the southwestern Caspian Sea near the lush Talish Mountains region of Iran. The antiquities are suspected to have been derived from illicit excavations of burial sites. CBP officers will safeguard the antiquities until a disposition is ordered.

Not mentioned is the fact that the items however seem to be wrapped in Korean newspaper. There are quite a few antiques dealers and estate sales auctioneers in Jacksonville, north Florida, but no 'gallery' antiquities dealer that has come under my radar (yet) as dodgy. Maybe the buyer is an eBayer or social media seller. 

It is not a little suspicious that the blade weapons have closely similar patinas, yet would have been recovered from different soil conditions, depending on where the grave was dug, how deep it was, and where the bronze was in relation to other items in the grave/burial deposit. The projectile points have an even more closely similar (but different) patina.  I'd love to know whether we have a transit pattern that goes (instead of Iran....), Thailand fakers to Korean wholesaler to UAE dodgy dealer to the USA. Or maybe these are actual Iranian pieces that have been stripped and repatinated (there is a well-known British seller - ahem, who frequently has multiple items that look like that is what they might be [though they too could equally be out-and-out fakes]).

 

US Cultural Property Looted, Melted Down

US collectors of looted and smuggled portable antiquities often stress that these items are being "preserved" by being held in US collections, where they are allegedly "safer" than if they had been left in the ground among the brown-skinned folk whose heritage they are. Meanwhile, in the USA, a federal judge has sentenced the mastermind of a sprawling, multi-state museum theft ring to ten years in prison, bringing a dramatic chapter of cultural destruction to a close. The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, alongside state and local law enforcement agencies across Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, North Dakota, and beyond (' Mastermind of multi-state museum theft ring sentenced to 10 years for melting down sports history' River Reporter, February 21, 2026 ).

On February 10, 2026, Senior U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion handed down a 120-month sentence to Nicholas Dombek, 55, of Thornhurst Township, Pennsylvania. The sentencing followed a nearly month-long trial in 2025 that ended with a jury convicting Dombek on multiple felony counts, including conspiracy, theft of major artwork, concealment and disposal of major artwork, and interstate transportation of stolen property.

According to U.S. Attorney Brian D. Miller, Dombek led an eight-person conspiracy responsible for a string of thefts stretching across at least five states. The targets were not random. The group focused on museums, halls of fame, historic estates, specialty galleries, and local businesses—institutions dedicated to preserving fine art, sports heritage, antique firearms, rare minerals, and other culturally significant artefacts.

In total, the ring stole or disposed of dozens of historically important objects over more than a decade. The financial damage alone exceeded $2.7 million in restitution, but the cultural loss was far greater. Many of the stolen works were irreplaceable pieces of American artistic, cultural and athletic history.

What makes the case especially disturbing is not just the theft, but what happened afterward. Rather than reselling the items intact on the collectors’ market, the conspirators frequently destroyed them. After transporting the stolen artifacts back to northeastern Pennsylvania (often to Dombek’s residence), they melted down metal objects into crude discs or bars. These were then sold as raw material to fences in the New York City area for a fraction of their historical and market value.

In at least one case, a valuable painting was deliberately burned to prevent investigators from recovering it as evidence. Many other objects remain missing.

The conspiracy began to unravel after law enforcement executed a search warrant at Dombek’s home in 2019. Prosecutors later revealed that he attempted to intimidate co-conspirators to prevent cooperation with authorities. In 2023, after being indicted, he fled when federal agents tried to arrest him and remained a fugitive for nearly six months before surrendering on New Year’s Day 2024.
Several co-defendants were also convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from probation to eight years. Others pleaded guilty earlier in 2025. Nobody is believed to have been shot in the investigations.

In a statement, Wayne A. Jacobs of FBI Philadelphia emphasized the complexity of art crime investigations, noting that such cases often cross jurisdictions and unfold over many years.

Are Archaeologists Talking About Looting?

Naomi Oosterman and Cara Grace Tremain, 'Are Archaeologists Talking About Looting? Reviewing Archaeological and Anthropological Conference Proceedings from 1899–2019' International Journal of Cultural Property Volume 30 Issue 4, 14 May 2024

Abstract
The impetus for this study was a review of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) 86th Annual Meeting program in 2021. Finding that no single poster or presentation referenced looting or antiquities trafficking despite these issues being ethical considerations that all SAA members are expected to recognize, we sought to investigate whether this was an irregularity – perhaps due to the virtual format of the meeting – or whether it was more common than not. For a broader understanding of if, how, and where these topics are discussed by archaeologists outside of the SAA, we expanded the investigation and studied the archives of 14 other archaeological and anthropological conferences. The results of the study show that despite there being an overall increase in mentioning looting and antiquities trafficking at conferences, it remains a niche and infrequently discussed topic.

Ukraine: Fifth Century Disc Brooch Seized by Police

 

                                 State Prosecutor                                 

Prosecutors in Lviv Oblast have brought a case to court concerning the attempted sale of a 5th-century archaeological object of considerable significance: a silver fibula brooch with a gilded surface (Намагався продати фібулу-брошку V ст.: судитимуть мешканця Борислава 17.11.2025). The announcement, published on the website of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, outlines yet another instance in which an important early medieval find was diverted toward the antiquities market rather than reported through proper heritage channels.

According to investigators, the object was discovered in March 2025 by a 45-year-old local resident near Boryslav, not far from the Tysmenytsia River. The artefact has been identified as a silver fibula dating to the second half of the 5th century. Under Ukrainian law, such a find is classified as treasure and is considered state property due to its special historical, scientific, artistic, and cultural value. Fibulae of this period are not merely decorative items; they are key chronological and cultural markers, often associated with elite dress and identity in the turbulent centuries that followed the decline of Roman authority in the region.

Rather than notifying the relevant cultural heritage authorities, the man allegedly offered the brooch for sale through an online auction platform. As in similar cases, the act of commercialization without reporting the find forms the basis of the criminal charge. He is accused under Part 1 of Article 193 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which addresses the illegal appropriation of discovered treasure possessing particular historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural significance.

The brooch has since been seized and transferred for safekeeping to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, where it will be preserved and studied in a proper institutional context. The case has now been referred to court, and proceedings are ongoing in accordance with Ukrainian law.

The case underscores a familiar problem: even a single object, when removed from its archaeological context and placed on the market, represents not only a legal violation but also the loss of irreplaceable contextual information. The recovery of the fibula ensures its preservation, but the circumstances of its discovery—unrecorded and undocumented—inevitably leave gaps in the historical record that no subsequent legal action can fully repair.

To be honest though, I am a bit puzzled by this find, the titchy photo does not help. It is a small disc brooch ('button brooch'?) with a circumferentially-grooved rim and what looks like tow opposed pairs ofr relief spirals, a four-spiral disc brooch? It looks very similar to Anglo-Saxon ones that have five or six spirals generally, there are some merovingian ones... and....? I cannot really place it among the other stuff from eastern Europe in general. Is it an import? An 'out of place' artefact (displaced by the antiquities market or misreported findspot)? or a fake? What is it? Anybody?

Evacuating Ukraine's Ancient Stone Guardians

According to the Facebook page of the 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade (18/2/2026), soldiers of the Sicheslav Brigade, together with museum workers, volunteers, and philanthropists, evacuated from Vasylivka in the Synelnykivskyi District of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast the Polovtsian Babas of the XI–XIII centuries – unique stone monuments of the steppe era.

Previously, as reported by the online media Suspilne, Ukrainian paratroopers and historians had also evacuated two ancient Polovtsian statues from Petropavlivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, to the same museum to protect them from war damage (Ukrainian Paratroopers Evacuate Ancient Polovtsian Statues from Petropavlivka Mezha, 13 November 2025)

soldiers of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade, together with historians, evacuated two Polovtsian baba statues as the front line approached: the distance from the settlement to the combat zone exceeded 45 kilometers.
Two statues were saved thanks to the efforts of volunteers and specialists. The artifacts were found on the community’s territory, previously stored under a concrete layer. Nina Sergienko noted that this is not a common practice for artifacts, but in this case such a step helped preserve them from destruction. [...] To move the sculptures to Dnipro, heavy machinery was employed – a truck and a crane. A representative of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade, Valeriy Kasianenko, said that the soldiers had a clear view of how the Russian army was destroying historical monuments amid active hostilities, so they decided to help with the evacuation.
“We understand that Russia is waging war against Ukraine on different levels, including at the level of history. For us it is important to preserve the heritage of our nation and not let the Russians destroy, damage, or take it for themselves”.
The statues were delivered to the museum in Dnipro. According to the representative, the evacuation lasted almost seven hours, and the transport covered more than 120 kilometers. After the work is completed, the exhibits are planned to be kept at the Dnipro Historical Museum named after Dmytro Yavornytsky. Yuriy Fanihin, Deputy Director for Records and Preservation of Museum Valuables, said that since the start of the large-scale invasion, 27 stone statues have been evacuated. [...] The museum owner added that until the end of the war these exhibits will remain in the museum’s courtyard, after which they will be returned to Petropavlivka."

Polovtsian stone stelae, popularly known as "babas" (from the Turkic word baba, meaning "ancestor"), are unique anthropomorphic monuments created by nomadic Turkic peoples between the 9th and 13th centuries. These statues, carved from sandstone or limestone, were typically placed atop kurgans (burial mounds) as memorial markers to honor the deceased and serve as ritual sites for ancestor worship. Though they represent both male and female figures with intricate details of clothing and weaponry, their primary function was to act as spiritual guardians of the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Today, they remain vital archaeological evidence of the medieval nomadic cultures that once dominated the vast plains of modern-day Ukraine and southern Russia.

My problem with this is that this is treated as a portable antiquities issue (by portableising the "art"). The baba however sits in a site in the context of other things deposited or present at that site - such as a burial, or ephemeral traces of offerings and commemorative rituals at various times. By digging them out roughly and loading them on a truck, any traces areound the base of the stone will have been losgt, the whole site disrupted. "Puttiung it back" is not going to undo that destruction of evidence.