Looting In Peru

Improved Essays
Article Analysis Two
1) In ‘The Destruction, Looting and Traffic of the Archaeological Heritage of Peru,’ author Walter Alva focuses on the mining and looting of ancient sites which leads to the destruction of many artifacts present. He also touches on the damage done to the archival record by removing the artifacts from their original context and sending them away to collectors or foreign museums. Alva works towards drawing attention to how collectors and museums play a large part in encouraging looters and explains just how damaging looting is.
I do think that the issues Alva outlines have impacted the cultural heritage in Peru. Local cultures have turned to glorify looting, despite it actively destroying the very artifacts that could give them knowledge of their own history and cultural heritage. These issues also span over a broader global scale, as the success of looters in Peru could encourage others to loot as well. When museums in one place begin to display looted objects, other museums begin to think it is okay to do so too. By destroying the artifacts of one site, scholars elsewhere lose the ability to obtain knowledge of that site. It is because of this that the act of looting leads to the destruction of the archival record and the inability to comprehend the cultures of the past. I agree with many of the solutions presented by Alva. Creating awareness of the damage looting causes will help to deter others from encouraging it or participating in looting. Educating locals would not only decrease looting, but would instill a greater amount of pride among locals to protect archaeological sites. Therefore, Peru would spend less money and resources than they would if they protected those sites with outside sources. I also agree with the idea to promote awareness of the importance of the archival record and the damage looting causes it. However, I would still do more to increase the protection around these sites and put more funds into establishing archaeologists at dig sites once looters discover them. 2) I selected the case of Loma Negra, a northern Peru cemetery site located in the Pirua Valley. Looted in 1969, most of the artifacts found at Loma Negra are made of sheet metal, and archaeologists now believe they belonged to either the Moche or Vicus cultures. However, without archival context, archaeologists are unable to identify the objects further. With no organic material, the objects cannot be radioactive carbon dated, and with no context, using stratigraphy proves impossible. I found this case compelling because I have developed an interest in the Moche culture due to previous classes in art history and found it interesting that these items remain in New York Museums today. The ability to date sites based on the objects found there
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The artifacts have been removed from their original location, destroying the context in which they were buried. Some artifacts have also been lost to collectors or museums, which has erased any information on their history or culture of origin. These artifacts currently belong to museums in the United States, which further removes the artifacts from Peru, their country of cultural origin. While archaeologists can learn some information from cataloging the artifacts and comparing their characteristics to similar artifacts, the lost cultural context of Loma Negra serves as a real-life example of the disruption caused by looters that will never be

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