Peter Stone, Professor of Heritage Studies at Newcastle University, was speaking ahead of the opening of an exhibition he has organised to draw attention to the continuing destruction of archaeological sites in Iraq.

'Catastrophe: The looting and destruction of Iraq's past', is being shown in the UK for the first time at Newcastle University's Hatton Gallery from Saturday 17 May, before touring to different venues around the UK and Europe.

Professor Stone says that focusing attention on the destruction of cultural heritage is of particular relevance at this time, as a Draft Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill is currently before Parliament.

"Archaeological sites around the world are under threat from looters who feed the illicit art market and in the process erase human history", he said.

"It is critical that Parliament passes the Bill as it will enable the UK to sign UNESCO's 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property.

"The Convention requires countries to take cultural heritage into account when they are planning for military campaigns, perhaps either by training archaeologists to serve with the military, or by training military personnel to be aware of cultural heritage.

"In the five years since the invasion in 2003, the devastation in Iraq has been staggering.

"We are all deeply concerned about the human suffering of the Iraqi people, but archaeologists and other specialists are also alarmed by the continuing destruction of Iraq's cultural heritage.

"The looting of the Iraq National Museum and the National Library of Archives in 2003 in Baghdad was widely reported, but the ongoing and large-scale looting of archaeological sites throughout Iraq is an even greater threat to the country's cultural heritage," he said.

During the 2003 looting, countless priceless artefacts were smashed or stolen and precious archives wrecked.

Professor Stone added:"Thousands of archaeological sites exist in Iraq which are important not only to Iraqi national identity, but which record the rise of Mesopotamian - Middle Eastern - civilisation as a whole, as well as later Islamic history. Large-scale looting and destruction represents a loss to our shared origins."

At the time of the 2003 conflict, Professor Stone said that the stealing of treasures to order for private collectors by illicit gangs taking advantage of the chaos was as great a problem as opportunist looting.

"I warned the government that, unless action was taken to protect archaeological sites, there was real danger of an organised trade in illicit antiquities developing. That criminal trade is now a reality," Professor Stone added.

"There are artefacts of such value that they have attracted the same attention as drugs and arms in the criminal world.

"More than that, there is conclusive evidence from Iraq that the proceeds from the sale of stolen antiquities are funding the purchase of arms to further the so-called 'insurgency'. It's a vicious circle," he said.


The four panel poster exhibition contains graphic images of the aftermath of the looting of the Iraq National Museum and other heritage sites, as well as updates about the recovery of some of the stolen artefacts.


Professor Stone, who advised the UK Military on the identification and protection of archaeology in Iraq during the early stages of the 2003 conflict, and has recently co-published a book entitled 'The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq', has organised the exhibition in collaboration with the Oriental Institute in Chicago.

• Catastrophe: The looting and destruction of Iraq's past will be on display in the Hatton Gallery from Saturday 17 May, when the gallery will be open until 11.00 pm as part of The Late Shows series, and will run until Friday 23 May. Normal Hatton Gallery open hours are Monday to Saturday 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. Admission is free.