Trypillian Threat
By Megan • Dec 5th, 2007 • Category: News for Creatives (archives)Olena Rusina reports for Art News:
“Politicians and oligarchs who are collecting archeological treasures in Ukraine are not only encouraging illegal excavations, they are using the objects to promote the myth of an advanced ancient culture that was the birthplace of civilization.Today black archeology is big business in Ukraine. The country is rich in archeological sites, from the encampments of Paleolithic hunters and the neolithic settlements of the Trypillian people to gold-filled Scythian and Sarmatian burials to the spectacular ruins of Greco-Roman cities on the Black Sea. But according to Petro Tolochko, director of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Science, professional archeologists can research only 500 sites a year, at most, while illegal diggers are destroying twice that number. The looters, Tolochko says, use heavy machinery and hire brigades of local people who are happy to have the work.”
Megan is a creative producer at Wise Elephant.
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