The rest are perishable. Konare talks as if history has already taught him what some African leaders have not yet considered. The cemeteries are full of people who thought they were indispensable. Now, if only Konare and his government can save enough of Mali's heritage to secure its benefits for the country's nearly 10 million citizens. The plunder is evident everywhere, driven by the novelty of African historical objects and the increasing popularity of Malian artifacts among private collectors and museums.
Impoverished farmers supplement their income by hiring out as looters.
The historic cultures were created by religious animists, with powerful beliefs in spirits and demons, myth and ritual. Reflecting their world, they produced vast quantities of fetishes, castings, carvings and terra cottas in strange, stylized anthropomorphic shapes. Such was their influence that European artists, including Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, maintained collections of African designs. Scientists calculate that the city was established 250 years before Christ and lasted 1,600 years, dying out in the 14th century with the rise of Islam and the decline of the Sahara trading caravans in favor of ocean routes. A survey of this and 833 similar sites found that 45 percent had been raided and 17 percent virtually stripped.