in the line of fire: cultural heritage in hybrid warfare – occupation, destruction, trafficking, espionage and propaganda

At the seminar on archaeology in occupied territories and in zones of armed conflict, I (Сем Харді) explored cultural heritage in hybrid warfare – occupation, destruction, trafficking, espionage and propaganda.

conflict antiquities and fake conflict antiquities are marketed from and through Turkey

Following the workshop on Radiocarbon Dating and Protection of Cultural Heritage, I thought it might help to summarise evidence of markets for conflict antiquities and fake conflict antiquities that are trafficked from or through Turkey, alongside evidence from elsewhere in the region.

destruction of tombs in Yemen by Ansar al-Sharia

In the last post on the destruction of a supposedly “polytheistic” shrine in Hadhramaut, Yemen, by Ansar al-Sharia (which I was sent by @oivej), I noted a video of the ‘targeting and clearing of sites where Houthi rebels were stationed’. I’ve updated the last post with another two images of that act of destruction. Here, I’ve clipped some frames from the video of the “targeting” and “clearing” of Houthi rebel sites in Yemen [استهداف وتطهير مواقع يتمركز فيها الحوثيين ولاية تع].

destruction of a ‘polytheistic’ shrine in Hadhramaut, Yemen, by Ansar al-Sharia, by 30th January 2016

Although he continues to refuse my pleas to blog or otherwise publicly record these finds, @oivej has shared three [and I’ve added another two] images of destruction, of [a] domes of [a] supposedly “polytheistic” shrines in Hadhramaut (Hadhramout, Hadramawt, Hadramout or Ḥaḍramūt (حضرموت‎)) in Yemen, apparently by Ansar al-Sharia(?), by the end of January 2016. But this really is beyond the limits of Google Translate.

I should also note, again, that I am working full-time on trafficking. I did not have the time or the capacity to cover the destruction in Syria and Iraq as well. I certainly do not have the time or the capacity to cover the destruction in Yemen on top of that (or indeed instead).

tense being reviewed: antiquities looting to order in India

A month ago, Donna Yates, who teaches on the Postgraduate Certificate in Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime for the University of Glasgow, kindly reviewed my analysis of looting-to-order/theft-to-order of cultural property in (open access) Cogent Social Sciences. I’m now finally clawing my way back to electronic life and wanted to highlight it here.