the looting of ratiaria. - past horizons - journal of volunteer archaeology - aug 2009
TRANSCRIPT
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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
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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