Rome's ancient monuments are so poorly guarded that tourists are taking away
mementos of their visit to the Eternal City with impunity.
Archaeologists said yesterday that Trajan's Forum, in the heart of the
city's classical ruins, had been stripped of all the fragments of statues
and shards of amphorae that adorned the site until recently.
To highlight the problem, a reporter from Il Messaggero newspaper carried
away large boxes full of ancient artefacts during the daytime without being
challenged.
An archaeologist working at the site, who asked not to be named, said:
"Everything has been taken from Trajan's Forum. The close-circuit television
cameras are pointless, and the gates are practically non-existent. Even a
child could climb over them.
"The treasures of ancient Rome are very vulnerable, but there are lots of
gaps in the security system of one of the most important archaeological
areas in the world." He added that he had often seen people in restricted
areas, collecting keepsakes.
The newspaper blamed the 20 million tourists who pass through the city each
year for the looting. "Who knows how many of these small fragments now adorn
living rooms all over the world?" it said.
...
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COMMENTARY
**********
This article documents a well-known problem, that tourists with their
insatiable appetite for souveniers will gradually denude any site accessible
to them of anything that can be carried away. As is pointed out in the
article, it is virtually impossible to stop this scavenging. The theft of
these priceless ancient artifacts, which are continually being ripped from
their site context by the greedy hands of tourists, is an irreparable and
disastrous loss to archaeology.
The solution, obviously, is to abolish tourism at archaeological sites.
Tourists must be kept at a safe distance where they can view the monuments,
but not be allowed to enter the sites.
Dave Welsh
www.classicalcoins.com
service@classicalcoins.com
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