Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003 the archaeological and historical sites (indeed one of the cradles of civilisation) have suffered from neglect and looting. There have been many reports of sites and museums looted for artifacts, some later recovered but many gone for good and destroyed. Analysis of new satellite imagery covering over 10,000 square kilometres covering 1900 sites and comparing to older images reveals the extent of the looting and damage.
Archaeologist Elizabeth Stone at Stony Brook University in the USA was able to identify holes made by looters at the various sites and see if they were new or existed before the Gulf War. Stone identified 213 sites which had been extensively looted.
Reference :
"Satellite images reveal extent of harm to Iraq's archaeological sites" - Thaindian News (03/03/08)
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