How to Respond to Looting and Damage to Archaeological Sites
Looted and Damaged Archaeological Sites Checklist
Trafficking Sacred or Ceremonial Objects - General Information
How Do I Report A Crime on eBay?
How to Respond to Looting and Damage to Archaeological Sites
If You Find It, Record It, And Report It – Do not intrude into the area, investigate, or interpret what is there.
This could be a crime scene. Promptly report all potential violations to your local law enforcement agency. It is crucial that you report your information as soon as possible to get an investigation started and to preserve evidence.
It would be helpful to also notify the land owner or land management agency that is responsible for the land as well. Land managers, archaeologists and investigators are trained to focus on finding out the circumstances of any natural or human-made damage. We do not want to somehow impede that process.
Assume all potential violations are serious. Non-Law enforcement people should not initiate contact with potential looters. After/while notifying law enforcement and if you can do it safely from a distance, observe the activity, document what you see and photograph what you see if possible.
What happens now?
In an ideal situation, a law enforcement officer and an archaeologist would respond to the area to initiate the investigation. If there are people present, the law enforcement officer should observe and document his observations before he decides to approach them. The law enforcement officer is the person who is trained to make the potentially dangerous contacts.
After the contact has been made and the situation is no longer potentially dangerous, or if there are no people present, the law enforcement officer and the archaeologist will begin their initial investigation and conduct an assessment of the damage to the site. This should take place as soon as possible to prevent the loss of potential evidence.
Looted and Damaged Archaeological Sites Checklist
If the violator is not present:
- This is a Crime Scene, DO NOT touch anything.
- Try not to walk in the area, your footprints will become part of the crime scene.
- Notify law enforcement as quickly as possible.
- If you see items from the archaelogical site, leave them for the law enforcement person to process as evidence. The collection of evidence is very meticulous so as to not contaminate the evidence and also to establish a chain of custody that will stand up in court.
If the violator is present:
- If you are not in a safe area, leave the area.
- Report all potential violations to law enforcement as soon as safely possible.
- Observe, document and photograph to accurately describe what you have just witnessed if in a safe area.
- Observe the tools or other equipment in detail.
- Do you see any artifacts?
- Do you see any tools (shovels, screens, or other equipment)?
- Do you see any animals with them (i.e., dog)?
- Do you see any guns?
- Observe the suspect(s) vehicle in detail.
- What does it look like?
- Is it a pick-up truck, car, SUV?
- Do you know the vehicle maker (e.g., Ford)?
- Can you get the license plate number?
- Observe the suspect(s) in detail
- How far to the nearest town?
- What are the routes to the site?
- Are there escape routes?
- Are there areas where law enforcement will be able to observe from?
- Observe the suspect(s) in detail.
- Do you know the person(s)?
- What do he/she/they look like?
- Can you describe them?
- How many are present?
- What are they wearing?
- What are they doing?
- Are they smoking?
- Are they dirty?
What to Do If You See Something for Sale
Try to gather as much information that you can and report it to authorities. Do not confront the owner whether you are in a shop, a flea market or trade show. Document the address or website, any auction number and description of what you may think to be illegal. Report your findings or concerns to your local law enforcement agency or land management agency. You will (more than likely) need to explain why you believe an item may be illegal to either possess or sell, so don’t be surprised.
The number of law enforcement officers and archaeologists available to investigate all types of crime are limited, and especially so with cultural resource crimes. Any information that is current, complete and accurate in these types of scenarios is very useful. Please help by being another set of eyes and ears in the prevention of cultural resource crimes.
How to Report a Crime on eBay
eBay has a Security and Resolution page: click here to visit. This site is for non-law enforcement people to report a problem. Also, each eBay.com listing has a “report this item” hyperlink at the bottom of the listing that allows you to report a crime or problem.