Chasing heritage thieves
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 31/10/2020

Looting and trafficking of cultural heritage, especially archaeological, is now a global scale phe-nomenon, the origins of which are rooted in history. Since the ’70s, despite the 1970 UNESCO convention, plundering and illicit trade of cultural property has become an increasing trend with  major  consequences  to  internal  security,  economies  and  even  loss  of  cultural  identity,  which exists without distinction at all latitudes, in the most advanced economies of the planet as well as in less wealthy countries. More recently, the phenomenon has been further exacerbated by conflict and turmoil in areas where political stability is compromised. Studies draw a firm connection between increased looting with the political destabilisation of the states. The last decades have also witnessed several initiatives, promoted by a diverse set of actors engaged in the protection of endangered cultural heritage and halting illicit trade, that rely in-creasingly on technological and digital advances to combat such illegal activities. This session aims to take stock of ongoing initiatives and bring together emerging digital practices aimed at understanding the complexity of the phenomena of pillage and illicit trade in archaeological objects and evaluate them. We invite participants to discuss approaches and methods that are being adopted (or proposed) to foster remediation and resolution. This includes (but it is not limited to) established practices such as the use of remote sensing to detect looting activities, the  role  of  network  analysis  to  model  illicit  antiquities  trade,  the  establishment  of  (local  or  global) databases of lootable or looted items, together with less explored (but highly promising) methods such as quantitative analysis, predictive modelling, data mining (especially on the dark web where looted properties are often traded), statistical analysis, deep learning, block chain technologies, and even apps and social media.The session is organised within the framework of the H2020 Netcher project (NETwork and digital platform for Cultural Heritage Enhancing and Rebuilding) that aims at creating a structured network of actors engaged in this fight.


Arianna Traviglia, University Ca' Foscari of VeniceRiccardo Giovanelli, Università degli Studi di Milano VEiL Project Università Ca' Foscari Venezia