Syria's treasure hunting fever
Reporter William Christou tells Michael Safi that the war-ravaged ancient city of Palmyra is covered in holes left by Syrians searching for millenia-old burial sites. Christou explains that the collapse of the security services combined with high levels of poverty after the war have driven people to search for ancient treasures like never before.
Amr Al-Azm, a Syrian archaeologist and founder of the Athar Project, which monitors the digital market for illegally looted antiquities across the Middle East, describes how Islamic State laid the foundations for this explosion in treasure hunting. He explains that the demand-side of this trade in Europe and North America must step up if the looting is to be halted.
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