Washington, August 13: A new survey of eight of the most important archaeological sites in the south of Iraq has indicated that neglect, not looting, threatens the sites.
According to a report in National Geographic News, an international team of scholars who visited the historic sites in June found no obvious evidence of recent looting.
The findings came as a surprise to antiquities experts and scholars who had expected continued destruction of Iraqi heritage sites after the US invaded in 2003.
"We didn't see any new looting at the eight sites, which was really very, very encouraging," said team member Elizabeth Stone, a Mesopotamia specialist from Stony Brook University in New York.