The Plundering of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage
Researchers from the University of Chicago have identified 162 archaeological sites in Afghanistan that have been completely destroyed and looted by bulldozers since 2018.
Afghanistan continues to suffer from the consequences of antiquities smuggling. The French TV network France 24 announced that the University of Chicago has sounded the alarm on this issue because in recent years, this phenomenon has become increasingly concerning. Researchers from the University of Chicago’s Cultural Heritage Protection Center stated in a report, ‘We have identified a new form of looting, where between 2018 and 2021, before the Taliban came to power and even under the new government to this day, bulldozers have been used to excavate 162 archaeological sites.’
To reach these observations, they studied thousands of satellite images. Professor Gil Stein explains, ‘Between 2020 and 2022, we developed an artificial intelligence system that allows computers to identify archaeological sites in satellite images.’