Real life tomb robbing, as opposed to raiding

[John Carter]

Ancient Peruvian city plundered (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050906/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/peru_lost_city)

[CatSuit&Ponytail]

"...over 50 cliffside tombs were destroyed. Not just sacked and looted, the tombs themselves destroyed. Torn apart with picks and axes." :eek: That's not robbing or raiding, that's thoughtless vandalism! Wanton destruction benefits no one. :rolleyes:

[Trinity34]

Someone needs to go in there and kick their ***** and recover all the stolen artefacts.... who's with me? :D

[Sophia Leigh]

That's not robbing or raiding, that's thoughtless vandalism! Wanton destruction benefits no one. :rolleyes:

Exactly!

Its very sad that people can be so thoughtless :(

[projo]

I started a thread on Sept 7th (yesterday) about this, but it was tongue in cheek.
And Lara Croft would never do such a thing as this, I agree.

Shocking what happens to these ruins when the whole world finds out about them.
But you must also understand that there are serious collectors who will pay top money for artifacts.
There are also agents who buy from the locals who are paid small amounts(what is to them a fortune) for some "worthless old piece of junk". Then the agents really break the law by sneaking these items around and through borders.
This same trinket may be sold for a hundred or a thousand times what the agent paid the local.
The market for such ancient treasures is not going to go away, so at least we can understand the secrecy that surrounds these archeological discoveries, and how these secrets should be respected and kept. :cool: