For the last couple of decades, Iraq is known as a country of war, danger, fear, hunger and terror. Three wars have occupied this period, bringing along terrible consequences. The chaos and poverty...Show moreFor the last couple of decades, Iraq is known as a country of war, danger, fear, hunger and terror. Three wars have occupied this period, bringing along terrible consequences. The chaos and poverty of the country, in combination with an destabilised authority, has made people to start large-scale looting of archaeological sites in the desert of Southern Iraq, as an alternative way of income. the antiquities they dig up from the ground are sold to smugglers, which again sell them on to collectors, museums and institutions all over the world through the illegal trade market. Unfortunately, the looting and selling of these ancient objects does not happen occasionally, but it happens on a gigantic scale and gets worse and worse. Entire villages, clans and tribes are involved in the trade and profit from it. Furthermore, powerful elites mingle in the trade, which is why it is completely intertwined with the country’s political situation. Starting in 1990 with the first Gulf war, the problem has never had such a magnitude as with the start of the Second Gulf War in 2003, and it is still increasing today. Not only is this process destructive for the archaeological objects, monuments, and science, it also further destabilizes the country as looting groups are armed, merciless, dangerous and powerful. Furthermore, especially during the 2003 war but also before, sites have been damaged by military forces and bombs, and museums have been robbed. This bachelor thesis explains what kind of archaeology destruction has occurred in the past of Iraq, how looting has developed and why, why it is so hard to stop and most importantly, how we can counteract it.Show less
Since the very beginnings of archaeology as a science graves have fascinated archaeologists and have proven to be important sources of information. The approaches used to study graves however, have...Show moreSince the very beginnings of archaeology as a science graves have fascinated archaeologists and have proven to be important sources of information. The approaches used to study graves however, have often not included the personal, intimate aspects of death, nor the persons in the past involved. Also, funerary practices are often set apart from other aspects of society, and the interconnectedness of the individual with society neglected. The concept of personhood can be used to bridge this divide that has formed within archaeology between people and society, as it enables the investigation of the persons in the past through their relationships. This study aims to explore the relationships of the Late Neolithic inhabitants of Tell Sabi Abyad with their social, cultural, material and natural environments. The main focus lies on the grave goods, a not yet studied aspect of the Late Neolithic cemeteries at the site, as they can be regarded elements of identity and personhood of the deceased, but also of the living community. The cemeteries at Tell Sabi Abyad, dated to ca. 6400-5800 BC, hold tremendous potential to add to the emerging image of death and burial during the Late Neolithic in the Near East. Owing to the presence of secure chronological control, extensive documentation and an unusually large burial sample, we are able to investigate practices surrounding death and burial from a bottom-up approach. Within the present research, it becomes clear that the Late Neolithic cemeteries at Tell Sabi Abyad, Operation III, offer ample opportunity to go further than the mere analyses of social complexity and the creation of typologies of burial practice, and to investigate aspects of mortuary behavior related to the person. As deduced from the burial record, personhood at Tell Sabi Abyad seems to have been experienced in terms of both relational and individual identities. Within the grave good assemblages we see expressions of the wide variety of relationships held by the prehistoric inhabitants of the site. These relationships range from supra-regional, to the most intimate of relations, such as those between mother and child.Show less
