Episode 51 - Looting the Iraq Museum and Archaeology News

In this week's episode of Archaeology Crime, Jason takes you through the looting of the Iraq Museum in the wake of the US-led invasion of 2003. As Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime was crumbling, international antiquities traffickers were already at work selecting their targets from among the Iraq Museum's many treasures. Though many of the looters were just normal Iraqis looking to make a buck or simply attack a symbol of the hated regime, professionals were definitely involved, and they knew what they were doing. Through hard work and determination by the Iraqis, Americans, and others, many of the cultural treasures have been recovered, but much is left to be done.

Next, we move onto Archaeology News. This week, we have 3 exciting stories: 

1) The police are called in to resolve a Neanderthal archaeology mystery, identifying the world's oldest fingerprints
 2) Ancient canal system discovered in Iraq, near the world's oldest city
 3) Ancient population discovered in Colombia

Links & Resources 

• A 6000-year-long genomic transect from the Bogotá Altiplano reveals multiple genetic shifts in the demographic history of Colombia: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ads6284 
• Identifying the preserved network of irrigation canals in the Eridu region, southern Mesopotamia: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/identifying-the-preserved-network-of-irrigation-canals-in-the-eridu-region-southern-mesopotamia/2B2BE82BACA8A2BEFCB4C43A140419C5 

Related Episodes 

• Easter Island Wine Mystery & Ancient Bear Bone Discovery! Archaeology News Edition 8 | Into The Dust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH3RBgywOEM
• The Best of Neanderthal Archaeology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogu-JmwLjgU

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