http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2822095.stm

War risk to Iraqi treasures
By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor


Archaeologists are warning that another Gulf War would
be catastrophic. History-changing discoveries could be
lost forever through bombing and looting, they say.

Iraq is a cradle of civilisation
with thousands of
archaeological sites spanning
more than 10,000 years.

It is the birthplace of
agriculture; the first great
cities and empires were in Iraq,
and the origins of writing have
been traced to the region.

Babylon was built on the banks of the Euphrates, Baghdad
University is one of the oldest seats of learning in the world
and the city of Mosul, in northern Iraq, is considered by some
to the oldest continuously inhabited place on Earth.

As part of its preparations for war, the Pentagon recently
asked archaeologists to list sensitive locations in Iraq, but as
one researcher put it: "the whole country is one big
archaeological site".

Not a good mix

Because of the threat of war, archaeologists have recently
ceased excavations along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as
well as in Iraq's major cities.

In fact, researchers from all over the Middle East are stopping
excavations.

In a statement, the
Archaeological Institute of
America said it was "concerned
that in the aftermath of war,
Iraqi cultural objects may be
removed from museums and
archaeological sites".

Professor McGuire Gibson, of
the University of Chicago,
summed it up succinctly. "War
and archaeology do not mix,"
he said.

The institute points out that
Iraq's museums - particularly
the national museum in
Baghdad and the regional
museum in Mosul - house
irreplaceable sculptures,
inscribed tablets, reliefs, cylinder seals and other cultural
objects.

"The removal of such objects would cause irreparable losses
to some of the world's most significant archaeological sites," it
adds.

Greater risk

The institute urges all governments to follow the terms of the
1954 Hague Convention that seeks to protect cultural
artefacts in times of conflict, and to protect ancient sites,
monuments, antiquities, and cultural institutions in the case of
war.

But the track record in the region is not encouraging.

In the aftermath of the Gulf War in 1991, many unique sites
were plundered or damaged and researchers left Iraq to work
abroad.

During the conflict, the mighty ziggurat at Ur, one of the first
cities, was bombed and damaged. In addition, prized
antiquities were looted and sold illegally. In some cases,
thieves plundered Assyrian wall frescoes and sculptures.

In January, archaeological curators, collectors and lawyers
expressed their deep concern about the impact of another
war, saying that sites "face a greater risk now than they did
10 years ago because of the greater American determination
to topple Saddam Hussein".