The future of Mali's past
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3422383 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rogier Bedaux (National Museum of Ethnology), R M A Bedaux, M Rowlands, M J Rowlands (University College London) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 75 |
| Issue | 290 |
| Pages | 872-876 |
| Publication date | 2001-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Antiquity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0003598x00089456 |
| OpenAlex | W1826242115 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 6 |
One of the greatest disasters for African archaeology is the systematic plundering of archaeological sites for the antiquities trade (e.g. Schmidt & McIntosh 1996; ICOM 1994). An eloquent proof of this plundering is the beautiful catalogue 'Earth and ore', published in 1997 by Schaedler. Of the 668 objects illustrated fullcolour in this catalogue all come, except for a dozen objects and some forgeries, from recent looting of sites in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ghana and Nigeria.Regions in Mali that are particularly rich in cultural heritage, such as the Niger Inner Delta and the Dogon country, are particularly shocking examples of this systematic plundering. Archaeological research in 1991 in the south of the Delta, undertaken within the framework of the Malian-Dutch 'Toguéré' project of the Institut des Sciences Humaines at Bamako, showed that 450h of the 830 visited sites exhibited traces of illicit excavations (Dembeleet al. 1993). In 1996, a sample of 80 of these sites was revisited by Annette Schmidt. The percentage of plundered sites had increased by 20%) (Annette Schmidt pers. comm.). One does not need much imagination to realize the scale of this disaster
Ancient history · Archaeology · Delta · Dozen · Ethnology · Excavation · Geography · Looting · Niger delta · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Engineering · History · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2005 - 2026 (22) |
| Highly cited | No |