Landscape, Loss, and Looting. Lessons Learned at an Early Bronze Age site, Jordan

Jordan, like many nations, faces a persistent and complex problem of looting driven by the demand for cultural artifacts. The illicit excavation and trade of illegal antiquities from Jordan is fueled by a network of looters, intermediaries, and collectors who often acquire objects without scrutinizing their origin stories or the legality of their acquisition. Regardless of robust efforts by local communities, the Ministry of Culture, the Department of Antiquities, and various cultural heritage NGOs, the destruction of archaeological landscapes continues unabated. Sites are pillaged, invaluable historical data is lost, and local communities are increasingly alienated from their own heritage. An integrated approach to assessing the issue of looting includes archaeological evidence, archival documents, ethnographic interviews, and pedestrian and aerial surveys using unpiloted aerial vehicles (drones), provides valuable lessons regarding looting, loss, and landscape at a series of Early Bronze Age sites (3600–2000 BCE) along the Dead Sea Plain in Jordan. This is an examination of how archaeological material goes from the ground to the consumer (individual and institutional), the various pathways artifacts take, the laws and policies in place which facilitate or hinder the movement, and the consequences of demand for archaeological objects.