Ancient artifacts are irreplaceable and priceless, but still people are constantly destroying them. Sometimes purposefully, like members of the ISIS terrorist group, who smash ancient monuments and antiquities on camera. But more often the destruction of artifacts and historical monuments occurs simply out of stupidity.
1. Indian rock art, shot from a paintball gun
Native American ancient sites and rock carvings of Lake Mead National Park are considered sacred sites for Native American tribes who live nearby. In 2010, the rangers received a signal that someone was firing a paintball gun in the park. When they arrived, they found that many of the cave paintings were heavily splattered with paint. The intruder was immediately found - he turned out to be a 20-year-old boy from Arizona. He was sentenced to a year in prison, a $ 10,000 fine and 50 hours of community service. And the workers of the park had to clean up numerous traces of paint from many damaged artifacts for a long time.
2. Mayan temple, started up for building materials
It would be at least understandable if the 2300-year-old Mayan temple were destroyed by war or natural disaster. However, in this case, something happened that does not fit in the head - the temple was broken in order to use its materials for the construction of the road.
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This happened in 2013 in Belize, when a local construction company used mechanical excavators and bulldozers to destroy the Mayan pyramid temple and use the limestone from which it was made to build roads.
From the point of view of the construction company, it had a compelling case for this horrific act of vandalism. The Mayan pyramid was made of high quality limestone and the temple is located close to the road under construction, and the company decided to save on material and fuel costs. Therefore, the workers calmly began to destroy the pyramid.
When the police reported what was happening, the destruction of the temple was stopped, but most of it was broken, as well as the artifacts inside the sanctuary were smashed or disappeared without a trace.
3. An attempt to steal rock paintings from a cave
We are already accustomed to stealing paintings from museums, but we cannot imagine that someone is stupid enough to steal rock paintings. How can you steal something painted on the walls of a cave? But nevertheless, someone tried to do it with a 5000-year-old specimen of cave painting in Spain.
The damage was seen by tourists who found pieces of stone on the floor and chips on the walls of the cave, which showed that someone was trying to carve a drawing out of the wall with tools. Fortunately, it turned out to be an impossible task, and the thief or thieves left the crime scene. But the drawing was, unfortunately, significantly damaged.
4. Marble bas-reliefs of Ancient Greece, destroyed by polishing and cleaning
The marble bas-reliefs of the Parthenon and other famous ancient Greek temples were exported from Greece to Britain in the early 19th century. They were carefully washed with water to remove the layer of soot and grime that had accumulated over the centuries. But in 1845, the curators of the British Museum wanted to clean the marble more thoroughly in order to see its pristine beauty.
To do this, they used nitric acid, which somewhat damaged the bas-reliefs. Almost a century later, the bas-reliefs for the same purpose were washed with ammonia. After such an impact, the ancient artifacts were badly damaged, in addition, unskilled workers also used hard metal brushes.
The museum management later pleaded guilty for the irreparable harm caused to the priceless ancient marble bas-reliefs.
5. Ancient monument, plowed by a bulldozer
The Offa Dam is a 1200 year old monument that dates back to the 13th century AD. It is a wall-like trench and embankment along the border between England and Wales. The dam was built by a local king who wanted to protect his lands. It is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site and ranks among the most interesting walls in the world for tourists, along with the Great Wall of China and the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately, in August 2013, a worker who was expanding the road bulldozed part of the dam and destroyed it.
The worker was to receive a prison sentence or a heavy fine. However, he escaped punishment, since the police failed to prove that he knew about the existence of the dam - and this despite the fact that the attacker had lived in the area all his life.
6. Inscriptions on the Roman Colosseum
It is a perverse practice among tourists to carve their initials on the ancient Roman Colosseum, which is almost 2,000 years old. In 2015, there was a highly publicized incident in which two American 20-year-old tourists carved their names and then photographed themselves at the scene of the crime for history. They ignored the numerous inscriptions posted at the Colosseum in Italian and English, stating that any damage to the stadium was illegal.
To their great surprise, the tourists were immediately arrested. But in fact, their arrest is rather an exception, because the Colosseum guards do not have time to follow most of the criminals. Despite the fact that the external security of the Colosseum has been increased due to terrorist threats, the number of employees inside has decreased slightly due to the crisis, which caused the growth of graffiti on the walls of the ancient monument. And the Colosseum decorated with inscriptions is unlikely to interest normal tourists later.
7. Troy blown up by dynamite
While the legend of the Helena of Trojan might just be a myth, there is no doubt that the city of Troy did exist and the Trojan War was a reality. In 1870, a wealthy German businessman named Heinrich Schliemann, obsessed with the legend of Troy, arrived in Greece to find this ancient city. Almost immediately, he found a place that corresponded to the city described by Homer, surrounded by a fortress wall.
Schliemann, believing that Troy is deep under several layers of earth, began to pave the way with dynamite, as a result many artifacts of antiquity were destroyed.
8. Rare Chinese vase turned into a lamp
Not every day you find out that through your own stupidity you have lost a huge amount. A similar unpleasant discovery was made in 2008 by a London family who brought their table lamp made from a porcelain vase to an antique dealer for evaluation. This lamp stood for over 40 years, until a family friend saw it and suspected that it might be precious. And so it happened - it turned out that this is a rare Qing dynasty vase, created in the 18th century. If at one time a hole was not drilled in it for an electric wire, then the vase could have been sold for 50,000 thousand pounds! And now the maximum that you can get for it is 5,000 pounds, and then there is a buyer who is ready to buy a "defective" lamp.
9. Ancient Chinese tombs destroyed during construction
As a rapidly developing country, China is building many new buildings and developing infrastructure, while destroying archaeological sites. When workers come across valuable artifacts or historical monuments, they simply break them with bulldozers and continue working.
In 2007, during the construction of the IKEA store, a number of ancient 1800-year-old graves were excavated, which were simply destroyed, after which construction continued quietly.
The builders chose to pay a fine and continue construction on schedule, rather than halting construction to preserve the tombs.
In 2013, the same situation was repeated, but in an even more egregious way. During the construction of the metro, workers destroyed several ancient graves that were protected by the local archaeological research center, and the builders did not have permission to continue the work. However, they simply ignored all these moments and methodically destroyed historical monuments.
10. "Star Banner", cut into souvenirs
Anyone with a chance to see the famous American Star Banner relic can note that it now has a distinctly ragged appearance. This banner, which is more than 200 years old, has an interesting history. It was this that prompted Francis Scott Key to write the poem "The Star Banner". During the Anglo-American War of 1812, he saw a huge flag waving over a fortress that had just survived a cannon bombardment. The surviving banner filled him with pride, and so a poem appeared, which later became the anthem of the United States.
The fort was defended by Lieutenant Colonel George Armistead, who took the flag for himself after the war. Then the banner was inherited by his daughter, Georgiana.
She was constantly asked for a piece of the legendary flag "as a keepsake", and Georgiana complained that she would have to cut the entire flag into pieces to give everyone what they wanted.
However, despite complaints, Georgiana nevertheless cut hundreds of pieces of the flag for prominent people who asked for a piece of the flag as a souvenir. Ultimately, the flag was reduced by 20%. Her son donated it to Smithsonian University, where it can be seen that the Star Banner is in need of very serious renovation.
Natalia Trubinovskaya