Advocacy
Say YES to Bulgaria
Bulgaria's cultural heritage endangered
The devastating effects of illegal excavations
A huge U.S. market for Bulgarian antiquities
What is Bulgaria doing to protect its cultural heritage?
The government of the Republic of Bulgaria has requested a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United States of America [Docket No. DOS-2011-0115] to restrict imports of archaeological and ethnological material from Bulgaria dating from the Neolithic Period (7500 B.C.) through the nineteenth century A.D. This request is a substantial step toward enabling the US government to help stop the looting of archaeological sites and cultural monuments in Bulgaria.
We at SAFE feel strongly that the best way to understand cultural and historical objects of Bulgaria is within their archaeological, architectural and historical contexts, scientifically examined and professionally preserved. We know we are not alone in our belief and urge anyone interested in supporting the MOU with the Republic of Bulgaria to join us and Say YES to Bulgaria.
The borders of the Republic of Bulgaria contain some of the most unique and vulnerable cultural resources in Europe. In addition to the numerous Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age settlement mounds of the Hamangia, Vinca, Varna and Ezero cultures, there are significant remains of Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine urban centers. Perhaps most notable among Bulgarian antiquities are the remains of the Thracians, a powerful warrior kingdom conquered only by Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire. The best known Thracian remains in Bulgaria are tombs and burial mounds which contain stunning gold and silver work.
Bulgaria’s archaeological heritage is significant and at the early stages of investigation. Over the past two decades, since the fall of the Iron Curtain, large scale, well published archaeological work has resumed in Bulgaria. What has been revealed thus far is the deep importance of this region both in the development of the Balkan Peninsula in the prehistoric period, and in its location at the periphery of the dynamic and multi-cultural Hellenistic and Roman spheres.
Bulgaria's cultural heritage endangered
Research on the heritage of Bulgaria is today is an important aspect of Bulgarian cultural advancement as well as important for the development of a tourist industry in the future. Although it has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, Bulgaria’s per capita income levels remain among the lowest within the European Union. At the same time, the international market for antiquities has grown exponentially and this encourages massive looting of sites. This combination makes the undiscovered archaeological riches within the borders of Bulgaria particularly vulnerable. Below is a selection of recorded incidents of looting that have taken place in Bulgaria over the past several years. It is this type of activity that feeds the illicit antiquities market.
2011
September 2011
August 2011
Bulgarian Antiquities Police Bust Illegal Antiquities Storage
June 2011
Canadian authorities returned to Bulgaria 21,000 antiquities illicitly trafficked into the country
May 2011
Two are arrested overnight when caught digging Thracian burial mound.
March 2011
Customs Officials seize coins at Kalotina
2010
December 2010
November 2010
Bulgarian Police Bust Illegal Medieval Coin Auction
October 2010
September 2010
Bulgarian police seize 3000 looted coins in the southern city of Yambol.
Ring of antiquities looters arrested
November 2010
Bulgarian police recover over 2000 looted items near northern town of Shumen.
2009
October 2009
September 2009
March 2009
July 2009
“Treasure Hunting is a National Tragedy for Bulgaria”
Between 30 000 and 33 000 people are involved in the looting of Bulgaria’s cultural heritage.
January 2009
Italy Returns Thousands of Looted Coins to Bulgaria
2008
July 2008
June 2008
February 2008
2007
December 2007
October 2007
August 2007
An overview of Looting in Bulgaria
April 2007
March 2007
2006
December 2006
National Geographic Magazine calls Bulgaria the El Dorado for looters of ancient sites.
February 2006
Over 10,000 Coins Stolen from Veliko Tarnovo Museum
2004
October 2004
The devastating effects of illegal excavations
As the above selection of media reports makes clear, looting in Bulgaria now takes place on a massive scale. This was not always the case. Before the 1990’s, while Bulgaria was a part of the Eastern Bloc, looting was harshly punished and therefore limited. At the same time, there were only a limited number of archaeological investigations in Bulgaria and nearly all were published in Russian or Bulgarian which severely restricted international knowledge of them. However, with the opening of Bulgaria to the West in the late 1990’s looting began and far outpaced scientific excavation. An important synthetic study of organized crime in Bulgaria, conducted in 2007 by the Center for the Study of Democracy, found that in the late 1990s mafia-like gangs began to pillage archaeological sites systematically and sell finds on the illicit antiquities market. The effect of this has been that over the past twenty years undiscovered archaeological remains in Bulgaria have seldom been carefully studied but rather destroyed in the hunt for loot. Precious information about the ancient cultures of Bulgaria is being destroyed.
What can be learned when Bulgaria’s cultural heritage is carefully studied and preserved? This question might be asked about the material culture of the Thracians, whose ancient kingdom is largely encompassed by the modern borders of modern Bulgaria. Little is know about the Thracians despite their fame in antiquity for being such a fiercely fighting and wealthy people. One thing that we do know about the Thracians is the very fine quality of their metal work, especially in gold and silver, the raw materials for which were mined from the foothills of the Balkan mountain ranges. It was only in 2009 that a largely unplundered Thracian settlement site, dating to the 6-5th century BC was discovered. Because of the widespread destruction of Thracian sites, this one excavation is our only evidence for how a whole people lived, worked, worshiped, and made and used metal. Imagine how rich our knowledge of the Thracians would be if all of their settlement and tombs sites could be carefully excavated.
Or, one can look to the case of the Karanovo Settlement Mound located in the Maritsa valley in south central Bulgaria [Vasil Mikov, “Selishtinata Mogila do s. Karanovo (ova Zagora ok). The Settlement Mound Near Village Karanovo, Zagora District]. Discovered in 1936, it is the largest settlement mound in Europe. [Izvestija na. Bulgarskoto Geographsko Druzhestvo,. No. V (1938):157-173.] The scientific excavations there established the Karanovo chronological system which is used as the standard in the dating of prehistoric Balkan cultures. We will never know what other destroyed settlement mounds might have told us about the development of European prehistory.
A huge U.S. market for Bulgarian antiquities
The United States continues to be a major market for antiquities, especially those from the Greek and Roman world and particularly for coins. It is difficult to quantify the flow of goods in an illicit market. Nonetheless, a handful of important recent studies show how the US market for antiquities of Bulgarian origin remains strong.
In 2010, and in New York City alone, over $133 million worth of antiquities were sold at Christie's and Sotheby’s. The second highest year of recorded sales was 2007 when sales reached $55 million. It is believed that the recent era of economic uncertainty has contributed to this massive growth in auction house antiquities sales. Indeed, American investment advisors are now recommending the purchase of antiquities. These include advisors from such mainstream media outlets as CNBC, Time Magazine, the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal are now recommending the purchase of antiquities.
As the selection of news reports listed above makes clear, looters in Bulgaria are eager to meet the international demand for antiquities with material from their country. How much of this material is bound for the United States? Some recent border seizures, especially of coins, provide strong evidence for large quantities of fresh Bulgarian antiquities entering the United States.
In an important study of the material and intellectual consequences of the trade in unprovenanced coins, it was reported that in 2002 one individual shipped approximately one ton of coins (ca. 340,000 individual coins) from Bulgaria to the US through Frankfurt. The same study mentions another seizure which occurred in 2006 in which the Bulgarian police unit for combating organized crime intercepted a smuggled shipment of approximately 14,000 coins bound for the U.S. on a train from Sofia to Vienna. These reports highlight two facts: 1) there are well-travelled illegal shipping routes through which archaeological materials from Bulgaria are brought to the U.S. for sale; 2) coins constitute a substantial proportion of this trade.
What is Bulgaria doing to protect its cultural heritage?
Bulgaria is a state party to the 1954 Hague Convention and Protocol as well as to the 1999 Hague Protocol. It is also a state party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export or Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property as well as to the 1972 World Heritage Convention Concerning the Protection of World Culture and Natural Heritage, the 1992 European Convention for the Protection of Architectural Heritage and other international and regional instruments. Bulgarian national legislation includes the 1999 Protection and Development of Culture Act as well a the 2009 Cultural Heritage Act.
In Bulgaria, the enforcement of cultural heritage laws is carried out by the Unit for Combating the Traffic of Cultural and Historical items under the jurisdiction of the Unit for Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP). Since 2006, the GDBOP has made combating antiquities looters and smugglers a priority and has launched a variety of projects. For instance, in 2010 the GDBOP instituted an amnesty program under which people in possession of illicit antiquities could turn them in to Bulgarian authorities and not be prosecuted for their theft.
For more information about CPAC, please visit the U.S. State Department International Cultural Property Protection web site.
