The Looting of Ratiaria. - Past Horizons - journal of volunteer archaeology - Aug 2009

8/3/2019 The Looting of Ratiaria. - Past Horizons - journal of volunteer archaeology - Aug 2009

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Online journal

of volunteer

archaeology

and training

Pa

stH

orizons

August

2009

Bris l ingtonProject

ZuluLegends

T ime TeamAmerica

BulgarianFrescoes

Adventures in Archaeology

LootingBulgaria


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By Kr as s im ir a Luka

continued

Si tuated on the banks of the Danube in north

western Bulgaria s i ts the ancient ci ty of Colonia

Ulpia Traiana Ratiar ia , once considered one of

the most important Roman and Early Byzantine centres

in the region.

I ts downfall came in the 440s when i t was sacked by the

Huns, recovering brief ly only to be devastated in 586 by

the Avars. Now, some 1500 years later, the destru ction

of the ci ty is nearly complete but this t ime Ratar ia is at

the mercy of organised cr ime.

T h e D a n u b e , wh e r e i t f lo ws p a s t t h e t o wn o f Vid in . Ph o t o : K le a r ch o s K a p o u t s is Ab o ve : Br o n z e h e a d t h o u g h t t o b e o f E m p e r o r T r a j a n f o u n d a t R a t a r ia a n d la t e r s t o le n f r o m t h e R e g io n a l He r it a g e Mu s e u m

o f Vid in .

T h e L o o t i n g o f

R a t i a r i a


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Bulgaria

Ratiaria

Vidin

Sophia

Bulgaria

Bla

Sea

Romania

Greece Turkey

FYROM

Serbia


4/7past horizons 28

E v i d e n c e o f t h e s c a l e o f l o o t i n g a t R a t i a r i a . T h e r e d a r r o w i n t h e s e c o n d i m a g e p o i n t s t o a s k u l l t h a t h a s b e e n d i s c a r d e d b y a t o m b r o b b e r .

Ratia r ia l ies c lose to the vi l lage of Archar

in the Vidin region of Bulgar ia and was f i rs t

excavated f rom 1958 - 1962 then f rom 1976 1991. However , s ince then no archaeologica l

work has taken place a t the s i te . This is a t a

t ime when a l l other s ignif icant anc ient c i t ies

in Bulgar ia a re be ing s tudied, conserved and

opened to the publ ic as par t of a commitment

to the na t ions cul tura l her i tage which then

begs the ques t ion: why is Rat ia r i be ing le f t to

the mercy of the looters?

There has been no c lear answer . The duty

l ies pr imar i ly with the Regional Her i tage

Museum of Vidin which is responsible for a l l his tor ic s i tes in the a rea but seems to do

nothing. Highl ight ing this , the most recent

da ta ava i lable f rom the Bulgar ian Academy

of Sc iences s tudy of a rchaeologica l f inds and

excavat ions in 2007 is extremely revea l ing.

Of the 295 s i tes inves t iga ted in Bulgar ia

tha t year only four took place within Vidin

and none were carr ied out by the Regional

Museum. Governmenta l legis la t ion s ta tes tha t

Ar c hit e c t u r al f r agme nt s wit h ins c r ip t io ns f ou nd d u r ing e x c av t ions f r om 1976 - 1991.


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the remit of i t s regional museums are to search

for , s tudy, col lec t , acquire , s tore , document

and popular ise cul tura l monuments , and inaccordance with the current Cul ture Her i tage

Act the main ac t ivi ty of the museum is to

protec t and exhibi t movable and immovable

cul tura l a r te fac ts .

The Regional Museum, therefore , has a duty

of care to the monuments under i t s control .

Looking a t Rat ia r ia the evidence of loot ing is

there for a l l to see but in ac tua l fac t there is

no need to even vis i t the s i te . Recent aer ia l

photographs ava i lable on the inte rne t show

almost the whole a rea scarred with bul ldozer

t racks . Rat ia r ia is be ing sys temat ica l ly

des troyed us ing everything f rom shovels

to heavy-duty machinery with s tanding

monuments reduced to rubble , tombs broken

into and human remains and pot te ry sca t te red

a l l a round. I t i s in a precar ious s ta te ye t no-

one wil l take responsibi l i ty for i t .

The problem is not new, however. I t has been

ongoing for a t leas t 10 years and occas ional ly

the Bulgar ian government is forced intotaking ac t ion. In 2001, in response to publ ic

pressure , the government se t out a se r ies

of recommendat ions requir ing Dimovo

Munic ipa l i ty and the Regional Her i tage

Museum of Vidin to take ac t ion regarding

Rat ia r ia .

Of course , they are only recommendat ions and

the var ious bodies involved are not obl iged

to ac t upon them. Indeed, promises to bui ld a

pol ice s ta t ion on the s i te never mater ia l ised

and funding for a monument warden was cut .

Of those ac tua l ly caught in the ac t of i l lega l

excavat ion and t r ied before the regional cour t

in 2000 and 2001 each persons charges were

dropped. Eight years la te r , despi te extens ive

coverage by the Bulgar ian newspapers to

highl ight the problem, not one of the 2001

direc t ives has been implemented. The only

continued

Go vern men t rec o mmen dati o n s fo r Di mo vo Mun i c i p al i ty an d th e Reg i o n al H eri tag e

Mus eum o f V i di n

Co n s truc ti o n o f a p o l i c e s tati o n o n th e s i te

T h e i mp l emen tati o n o f al l l o c al l an d us e l aws

T h e c reati o n o f a datab as e o f l o c al l an do wn ers

Mo n umen t b o un dary to b e defi n ed

Rep ai r o f fen c es an d s i g n ag e

Arc h aeo l o g i c al s al vag e wo rk to b e un dertaken

Bac kfi l l i n g o f l o o ter tren c h es

Ob tai n p ro tec ted s tatus fo r Rati ari a

Carry o ut reg ul ar arc h aeo l o g i c al exc avati o n s


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people who benef i t f rom the inac t ivi ty of

the loca l author i ty and the Regional His tor ic

Museum of Vidin a re those who plunder and

trade in anc ient a r te fac ts .

Despi te new government laws expl ic i t ly

laying out how s i tes should be protec ted the

tempta t ion to earn subs tant ia l amounts of

hard currency is s imply too grea t . Organisedcr imina ls t ranspor t a r te fac ts through Germany

and then on to the wor ld col lec tors marke t

where Bulgar ian ant iqui t ies a re in high

demand. Rat ia r ia , i t seems, is the t ip of the

iceberg. Sadly , Bulgar ia is be ing dra ined of

i t s her i tage a t such a ra te tha t the ant iqui t ies

market is now flooded. Volodia Velkov, head

of the Bulgar ian pol ice uni t charged with

combat ing organised cr ime, sa id in 2007 tha t

the loot ing of his tor ic monuments in Bulgar ia

genera tes bi l l ions of dol la rs per year . Thepotent ia l to earn such vas t sums o f money leads

to the conclus ion tha t unless there is proper

protec t ion, vulnerable s i tes l ike Rat ia r ia wi l l

not survive the ons laught .

Those who want to see this s i tua t ion change

must ac t immedia te ly, di rec t ly and pos i t ive ly .

The Bulgar ian Archaeologica l Assoc ia t ion

a long with other inte res ted groups have se t

themselves the goa l of a t t rac t ing the a t tent ion

of the inte rna t iona l community and to ra ise

funds to protec t Rat ia r ia in the shor t te rm.

In the longer te rm i t i s hoped to implement

a programme of research, inte rpre ta t ion andconsol ida t ion.

The potent ia l to save this s i te l ies wi th a l l

of us but unfor tuna te ly i t i s near ly too la te .

Bulgar ia s t i l l has many wonderful t reasures

to be proud of but these resources a re both

fragi le and f ini te . I t i s impor tant to suppor t the

f ight to protec t Colonia Ulpia Tra iana Rat ia r ia

and ensure this s ignif icant a rchaeologica l s i te

survives this te r r ible des t ruc t ion.

Kr assimir a L uka is the dir e ctor of the Bulgar ian

Ar chae ologocal Association (BAA)which was for me d

i n 2 0 0 0 w i t h t h e a i m o f s t i m u l a t i n g a r c h a e o l o g i ca l

r e se ar ch in Bulgar ia and the Balkans.

Ev e r y y e a r t h e B A A o r g a n i s e s a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l f i e l d s c h o o l ba s e d a r o un d t h e s ubj e c t o f R o m a n a r c h a e o l o g y F i n d B A A a t : h t t p:/ / w w w .a r c h a e o l o g y .a r c h bg .n e t

Watch the video - Al Jazeera invest igates antiquity looting in Bulgar ia

I f you are viewing this magazine on SCRIBD, then you wil l not be

able to see the video.

You can view it on either the ful l f l ip page vers ion of the

m ag azine :

www.pasthorizons.com/magazine

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jDj4j2XecA
http://www.archaeology.archbg.net/http://www.pasthorizons.com/magazinehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jDj4j2XecAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jDj4j2XecAhttp://www.pasthorizons.com/magazinehttp://www.archaeology.archbg.net/


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The BAA is asking for a 1 donation per person to help save Ratiar ia .

To donate please go to:http://www.archaeol og y.archbg .net/ fs_excavat i ons_rat i ar i a .htm l

and s ign the petit ion:http://www.ipet i t i ons .com /peti t i on/rat i ar ia/ i ndex.htm l

YOU CAN HELP S AVE RATIARIA

(c)2009 Google-Imagery(c)DigitalGlobe, Cnes/SpotImage, GeoEye, Map Data (c)2009 Tele Atlas

Ar e a of Rat iar ia he a v i ly -s c ar r e d wit h b u l ld oze r ac t iv it y .

2 n d c e n t u r y m a r b l e s t a t u e o f H e r a c l e s

f o u n d a t R a t i a r i a a n d s t o l e n f r o m t h e

R e g i o n a l H e r i t a g e M u s e u m o f V i d i n .

2 n d c e n t u r y R o m a n c o i n o f

P e r t i n a x f o u n d a t A r c h a r .

3 r d c e n t u r y R o m a n v i l l a m o s a i c f r o m R a t i a r i a
http://www.archaeology.archbg.net/fs_excavations_ratiaria.htmlhttp://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ratiaria/index.htmlhttp://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ratiaria/index.htmlhttp://www.archaeology.archbg.net/fs_excavations_ratiaria.html

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The Looting of Ratiaria. - Past Horizons - journal of volunteer archaeology - Aug 2009