[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/cs\/article\/modal\/10522\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n        \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n  \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EMuseums and police in Europe join forces to fight illicit trade in artefacts\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELujza Varga is a local player in a European campaign against a global plight: the trafficking of historical objects including artworks.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EVarga works for the Hungarian National Museum, which is taking part in an EU-funded project to help police, customs officers, auction houses and institutions like hers identify artefacts that may have been stolen or looted.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECode questions\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project, called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101094245\u0022\u003EAURORA\u003C\/a\u003E, is looking for ways to label objects so they can be easily identified internationally. Many museums mark items in their collections with codes that are unrecognised elsewhere.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If a customs officer sees a code, they will probably know the object belongs to a museum or public institution, but they won\u2019t be able to tell which one,\u2019 said Varga. \u2018We are researching to see whether we can create something which is easier to use.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of its geographical location, Hungary is one of the main routes of illicit trafficking from the Middle East to western and northern Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAURORA aims to link artefacts with chemical markers that could be quickly identified by authorities and cultural experts. The markers will be developed using nanotechnologies and be invisible to the human eye. The project runs for three years through 2025.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If you can create a system which can be used Europe-wide, for example, then potential buyers or law-enforcement agencies could check the object very easily,\u2019 said Varga, who heads the Department of Project Coordination and Exhibition Management at Hungary\u2019s 221-year-old national museum in the capital Budapest.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProject trio\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAURORA is among three EU projects getting underway to develop new methods for pinpointing stolen goods and protecting archaeological sites from looters. The other two initiatives are called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101094824\u0022\u003EANCHISE\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101094237\u0022\u003EENIGMA\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAll three come in the wake of a December 2022 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/legal-content\/EN\/TXT\/HTML\/?uri=CELEX:52022DC0800\u0026amp;from=EN\u0022\u003EAction Plan\u003C\/a\u003E from the European Commission to step up the EU fight against illegal trade in cultural goods.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe plan outlines a range of non-legislative steps that the Commission, EU governments and national customs, police, judicial and cultural authorities can take, including greater sharing of information and more training in the field. The EU\u2019s law-enforcement agency, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.europol.europa.eu\/crime-areas-and-statistics\/crime-areas\/illicit-trafficking-in-cultural-goods-including-antiquities-and-works-of-art\u0022\u003EEuropol\u003C\/a\u003E, has a central role in the whole effort.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003EIt\u2019s really important to educate people.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003ELujza Varga, AURORA\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ETrafficking of cultural goods is the third-largest form of illicit trade in the world, after arms and drugs, according to Corinne Chartrelle, former deputy head of France\u2019s Central Office for the Fight against Illegal Trafficking in Cultural Goods, or OCBC after the French acronym.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2020 alone more than \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.interpol.int\/en\/News-and-Events\/News\/2021\/Cultural-property-crime-thrives-throughout-pandemic-says-new-INTERPOL-survey\u0022\u003E850 000\u003C\/a\u003E artefacts were seized globally, with over half being in Europe, estimates the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBut, because many cases of trafficking go undetected, the real scale is likely to be much larger, according to the European Commission.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EStolen or looted objects can appear on the legal market, often with sophisticated \u2013 but false \u2013 documentation about their origin.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETerrorism links\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFor Chartrelle, who is part of ANCHISE, a further source of concern is illegal trade in cultural goods by armed groups.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We know that archaeological looting finances terrorism and we cannot dissociate the two,\u2019 she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2015, when US troops stormed the home of a finance chief of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria, they found a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/news\/stories\/isil-and-antiquities-trafficking\u0022\u003Elarge cache\u003C\/a\u003E of artefacts seized from archaeological sites and museums. They also found documentation showing that Islamic State \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/2009-2017.state.gov\/e\/eb\/rls\/rm\/2015\/247610.htm\u0022\u003Eorganised the looting of sites\u003C\/a\u003E, taxed the proceeds\u0026nbsp;and sold antiquities.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe following year, the US government filed a lawsuit \u2013 believed to be the first of its kind \u2013 to recover artefacts trafficked by Islamic State. It was \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-antiquities-idUSKBN14422I\u0022\u003Ea warning to the international art market\u003C\/a\u003E to guard against inadvertent terrorism financing.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ENo one knows how much money militant groups make from selling what some call \u201cblood antiquities\u201d. But mounting evidence in recent years of the scale of looting and trafficking has served as an alert to authorities.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There is very strong demand for archaeological artefacts because a massive number of museums are opening in Asia and the Middle East, which naturally need objects,\u2019 said Chartrelle.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELooting hotspots\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ELooting is a major challenge because artefacts are excavated and removed before archaeologists know of their existence. They\u2019re not recorded in any database and can\u2019t be reported stolen. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003EWe don\u0026#039;t want to lose our cultural heritage in Europe.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003ECharalampos Georgiadis, ENIGMA\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe International Council of Museums (ICOM) publishes \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/icom.museum\/en\/resources\/red-lists\/\u0022\u003ERed Lists\u003C\/a\u003E of the types of objects that may be taken from looting hotspots that include Afghanistan, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Libya, Mexico, Syria and Ukraine.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the French National School for the Police, where Chartrelle is now based, are expanding a tool called Arte-Fact that they first developed to identify stolen and looted objects under an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/833115\u0022\u003Eearlier project\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA photo of an item is uploaded into a mobile phone application, which checks the image against national and international databases of stolen goods.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EANCHISE, which began in February and runs until early 2026, will incorporate artefacts on ICOM\u2019s Red Lists.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It will help identify looted objects,\u2019 said Chartrelle. \u2018It will not be 100%, but it will alert an officer that the object needs investigation.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe app will also suggest the best experts to contact about that item.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe primary way to stop looting is to clamp down on sales, according to Chartrelle. This would curb the demand, a step that in turn would reduce the robbery.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018To do that, we must be able to identify these objects rapidly when they appear for sale in auction houses or online,\u2019 said Chartrelle.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDatabase scans\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ELike ANCHISE, ENIGMA is developing a tool to scan police and ICOM databases for stolen or looted items.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ECharalampos Georgiadis, ENIGMA\u2019s coordinator, says the technologies will be more effective if all museums use the same methods to describe at-risk items.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We want to create a unique identifier for objects,\u2019 said Georgiadis, an associate professor at the School of Civil Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHe said this means developing standardised descriptions \u2013 including colour, material, shape and size \u2013 that museums can use with minimum effort and cost.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EENIGMA, which runs through 2025, also wants to make it possible to use artificial intelligence to crawl the internet for images and information on objects that could be looted or stolen.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EArt and antiquities have increasingly been bought and sold online since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a result, online marketplaces are playing a growing role in facilitating criminal activity, according to the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.wcoomd.org\/-\/media\/wco\/public\/global\/pdf\/topics\/enforcement-and-compliance\/activities-and-programmes\/illicit-trade-report\/itr_2021_en.pdf?db=web\u0022\u003EWorld Customs Organization\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIllegal excavations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers in ENIGMA and ANCHISE are also working on ways to protect archaeological sites from looters. They\u2019re developing tools to monitor sites in conflict areas using remote sensing like drone footage or satellite imagery.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EEven if looted objects are eventually recovered, information that should be gleaned during an excavation is lost forever, according to Varga in Budapest.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If an archaeologist finds a grave with goods, they gather information on where the items are placed in the grave, whether it\u2019s the grave of a man, woman or child, and where the grave is located,\u2019 she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Hungarian National Museum, the country\u2019s oldest and largest museum, is responsible for many of the country\u2019s archaeological excavations. It is informing the public about the damage caused by looting.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Often we don\u2019t know about the site \u2013 that it exists at all \u2013 which is why it\u2019s really important to educate people,\u2019 said Varga.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMany European countries, including France, Spain, Greece and Italy, face a great deal of theft and looting, according to researchers in the projects.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We don\u0027t want to lose our cultural heritage in Europe,\u2019 said Georgiadis of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. \u2018It connects us to our roots.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n            \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n      Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-bjoecxzb6clhiqcrwjcnrgnabyz1htuj92wamkmxwic\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-BJoeCxzB6ClhiQcRwJCnrgnAByz1HTUj92WaMkMXwic\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]