A practical view from an Archeologist on looting

In the current anti-collector campaign conducted by archeologists with an axe to grind against collectors in cohorts with the cultural bureaucrats of failed states and/or dictatorships like Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, there is little discussion about what archeologists themselves can do to prevent looting. There are several simple steps archeologists can take that will discourage looting in places, they after all, have direct contact with the people of source countries like Syria today. Such steps include hiring site guards and paying local diggers a living wage. Such steps are already been taken by ethical archeologists in other countries (Derek Fincham, 'A practical view from an archaeologist on looting', December 10, 2014). Kathryn Morgan, a University of Pennsylvania PhD candidate and archeologist who has dug at the ancient site of Gordion in Central Turkey, asked what can be done, from an archeologist’s perspective to stem looting of sites, offered practical solutions, or at least initiatives, that would address the core of illegal activity and work to the benefit of all who have an interest in the past:

Education and economic incentives are probably the two most effective anti-looting “measures,” if they can be called measures. Education, because if people value the past for itself and think that it’s important, they don’t want to loot; and economic incentives, because if they are reliably prosperous without relying on looting, they don’t have to. Alternatively, you can try to foster the idea that an excavation itself and/or the tourism that it brings is a more sustainable long-term alternative source of income than a quick loot-and-sell operation. As far as I understand it, looting often isn’t that profitable a business for the looter: he’s giving whatever he finds to a middle man, who may be giving it to someone else, and him to someone else, until it finds a legitimate seller and a legitimate buyer who hasn’t dirtied his hands with any of the illegal activity. So, for the little guy, it’s dangerous – because looting is of course illegal – and he’s not making that much money off of it; he’s not going to do it unless he has to. If you can foster a good relationship with locals – providing them with employment opportunities, buying food for the project from within the village, some projects get students to teach English or organize pick-up soccer games with the workmen – those personal relationships are key to the long-term success of your project. But that’s kind of a warm and fuzzy answer that doesn’t deal with all of the complicated motivations that real people have in the real world. Realistically, what do we do? What can we do? The Gordion project employs a site guard year round who checks on the site. We give a map of the area to the local Jandarma, the police force, of the “most sensitive” areas archaeologically, that they need to keep an eye on. [...] the “winning hearts and minds” approach is more effective in the long run than a structural, legal response.

So why not make them a legal requirement for every archeologist excavating abroad? It's always better to tackle any problem at the source.