Wednesday,
April 23, 2008
Tourists 'Stripping Ancient
The
ANNOTICO Report
By Malcolm Moore in
April
3, 2008
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
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.
The forum was built in AD 112, followed by Trajan's Column in the following year. The whole area is currently undergoing reconstruction, including the insertion of a raised walkway for tourists.
"This is an open-air
museum," said Eugenio La Rocca, the head of
"You have to bear in mind
that we cannot cover every angle, especially since restoration work is going
on. We cannot put bunkers of guards everywhere. If we did the whole of
"However, the area is closed off and the television monitoring system is connected to a cabin staffed by guards. It is also connected to the police."
Mr La Rocca said the most
valuable artefacts were fully catalogued and
carefully stored away in warehouses.
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