Petroglyph thieves grab and deface California carvings

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

Saw-wielding thieves have stolen a series of ancient carvings from a California cliff side.

At least four of the carvings, known as petroglyphs, were taken over a period of several hours, US officials said, with others badly defaced.

The petroglyphs are thought to have survived for thousands of years at the desert site near Bishop, California.

Petroglyphs, or rock engravings, are created by removing the surface layer of rocks to reveal the colours below.



Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20404856

[dotymed]

1. WTF?

Why steal and destroy the carvings? Is it a religious thing?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. The destruction probably occurred as part of the removal.

It's like meth-addled copper thieves: wreak $10,000 destruction on a house to remove $200 worth of recyclable copper. They don't care, they just want the $200.

[SkyDaddy7]

6. I too wonder if this is the American Taliban at work?

Christians, like Muslims, think they & only they know the truth & all other religions must be destroyed. So, yes this could be an example of Christians doing what Muslims have been doing a lot of lately & that is destroying old religious sites.

This could be done in an effort to sell them but it seems like whoever did this was more interested in destroying stuff than simply stealing for money...We will see.

[geckosfeet]

8. Probably an art dealer who has a client fond of natural history.

[slackmaster]

14. Yes, it's the same target market where stolen high-end paintings and sculptures end up

It's very sad that there are people out there who are so unethical - The thieves, the dealers, and the buyers.

[Posteritatis]

16. Much more likely that they're just looters. (nt)

[bluedigger]

21. Dollars to donuts, it was methheads.

The carvings had little monetary value, especially as stolen artifacts. They weren't the "Mona Lisa's" of the rock carving world, just unique and irreplaceable. It's a senseless and stupid crime.

[littlemissmartypants]

2. LMSP kicking...

heartbreak.

[trusty elf]

4. Oh, jeez, that's sickening.

[lunatica]

5. This makes me very sad

and angry. Destroying history is probably one of the worst things people can do. We will never know how advanced we could be right now if we still had the ancient library in Alexandria and every other important historical thing that has been utterly destroyed. Including the relatively recent Afghan Taliban's destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan

Our country has lost part of it's identity with these defacings and thefts.

[WinkyDink]

7. I have never ceased to be sickened by the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.

I also wonder where many Middle Eastern artifacts are now in the homes of the wealthy, post-2003.

[mainer]

13. Wasn't that caused by a fire that spread from the docks?

And not a case of targeted destruction? Or maybe I've forgotten my Egyptian history.

[WinkyDink]

19. This article seems to cover all bases:

http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/articles/articleview.cfm?aid=9

[happyslug]

15. Some question if it ever occurred, with most evidence on its destruction questionable

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2233/what-happened-to-the-great-library-of-alexandria

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2010/06/the-perniciously-persistent-myths-of-hypatia-and-the-great-library

http://unllib.unl.edu/LPP/phillips.htm

http://www.ancient.eu.com/article/207/

Sorry, but the destruction of the Library at Alexandria was unknown to history till Gibbon did his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in the 1700s. Gibbon, often called Anti-Christian (but if you read Gibbon he is Anti-Catholic) did NOT want to put the blame on one of the Heroes of the Late Roman Empire, Roman Emperor Aurel ian who in 273 took Alexandria and burned the whole area where the temple the library had been (i.e. most of Alexandria). Aurel ian was a "Hero" to Gibbon in that he was one of the Emperors in the century that prevented the Empire from Collapsing. Thus Gibbon was NOT about to mention that Aurel ian destroyed the Library (unless they was clear evidence) even while he reported that the area where the Library was located in, was completely destroyed.

Please note, at the time of the alleged Christian Destruction of the Library, the Library of Constantinople had already been established, and it appears to be even larger:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Library_of_Constantinople

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. That's when I started hating the Taliban.

I recall that event well. Thanks for linking to that.

[Blue_Tires]

18. +1

when we destroy history, we destroy ourselves...

[Tansy_Gold]

9. K & R

It's so easy to think of people who are no longer there as not really people at all, thus dehumanizing them . . . and their descendants.

As a professor once told our class of art history students, "It isn't humans who make art, it's art that makes us human."

Just a couple miles from where I live is a lovely little place called Hieroglyphic Canyon, where the rocks are covered with hundreds, probably thousands of petroglyphs. It's an easy hike, and on a mild February day after heavy rain when the little waterfalls spring to life, it's popular with young and old alike.





The people who put them there intended that they be seen by anyone and everyone who came to that place. So it is wrong when someone steals these drawings and puts them into private hands where they will be seen only by a very, very few. It is far worse when they are totally destroyed.

These drawings, and there are so many of them around this vast country, are the American Lascaux, Altamira, Chauvet, Les Eyzies, Peche-Merle, Niaux, Tuc d'Audoubert, New Grange, Twyfelfontein, Pedra Furada, Gwion Gwion, Bhimbettka, and the list goes on. It is art that connects us all, from India to Brazil to China to Australia to a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific to a tiny island in the Mediterranean. They are all so very beautiful, and their loss is mourned deeply.

[byeya]

10. This is an example of the profit driven crimes very common on our public lands. Cultural artifacts

like the rock art above or Revolutionary War or Civil War artifacts illegally removed from national monuments are worth a lot to thieves who sell them to unethical collectors.

Also high on the list are black bear gall bladders - the bears are poached and the gall bladders bring hundreds of dollars from the Asian medical market; cacti; orchids; and other collectible plants. Among the highest priced animals are Bog turtles and several species of snakes and lizards. There's a large international market for these.

There are fewer rangers and US Forest Service officers than before and most of them are restricted to heavy visitor use areas and seldom are able to make routine patrols of the back country.

Our cultural heritage, as preserved by our public lands, is being systematically stolen from us.

[AsahinaKimi]

12. thats horrible....

Seems there is no respect for traditions, history or cultural land marks any longer. Some people live to see the world burn around them.

[Posteritatis]

17. Argh, that's some serious motherfuckerdom right there. (nt)

[Judi Lynn]

20. Monstrous. Evil. Hope they will be caught, at least. I want to see their loathesome faces. n/t