Dozens of archaeological sites across Afghanistan have been bulldozed to facilitate looting, according to a University of Chicago report.
More than two years after President Joe Biden’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban-controlled country is apparently claiming a new victim: human history.a series of report Data from the University of Chicago, published In 2024, a detailed pattern of systematic looting was uncovered at a series of sites dating back to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Most of the ruins are located in Afghanistan’s Balkh region, which was one of the richest and most populated regions in the 6th century BC, according to the BBC. report. By 327 BC, Alexander the Great had conquered the region, making it one of the most important places in history that may have been lost to the Western world.
The University of Chicago’s Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation has identified thousands of ruins across Afghanistan, but since late 2018 new patterns have emerged around them, particularly those created by bulldozer tracks. Dr Gil Stein, the centre’s director, told the BBC: “Essentially people were clearing large areas of land to facilitate systematic looting.”
Looters continue to plunder Afghanistan’s rich archaeological heritage | Science https://t.co/nvf6lpNLf4
— Chris Stringer (@ChrisStringer65) November 4, 2023
In 1978, a 2,000-year-old Bactrian gold hoard was discovered near the site where it was said to have been bulldozed. Further research revealed more than 20,000 rare and ancient artifacts, dubbed “Afghanistan’s Lost Treasures.”
“We can unearth layers of civilization in each mound,” Reza Husseini, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, told the magazine. Husseini was born in the Balkh region and spent his 20s volunteering at archaeological sites there. He said hearing news of organized looting made him feel like his “soul was dying.” (Related: Newsmax host Carl Higbie slams Biden administration over destroying women’s rights)
Thanks to Biden’s failed withdrawal, there will probably be nothing that can be done to stop these actions. There is something disgusting and frightening about a regime so comfortable destroying its own history.
Fortunately, we don’t live under a government or academic oligarchy that hides historical truth from us… oh wait… never mind. that’s right.
