Bioarchaeological approaches to looting: A case study from Sudan

Looting is a significant destructive force at archaeological sites; grave robbing, in particular, leaves human remains and cultural heritage irreparably damaged. Al-Widay, a necropolis excavated by the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition near the Fourth Cataract region of the Nile River, is a site with important implications for understanding the taphonomy of archaeological looting. Over 60% of the tumuli excavated at Al-Widay were disturbed in antiquity, making the site an ideal case study for examining the effects of looting on ancient human skeletal remains. Our research applies bioarchaeological methods of quantifying fragmentation to an assessment of “Culturally Significant Anatomical Regions” in order to evaluate the nature and degree of human disturbance activity at this necropolis. At Al-Widay, site reports document looted graves (n = 22), unlooted graves (n = 14), and a sample of graves (n = 42), for which the level of disturbance is unknown. Fisher's exact test showed significant differences in the bioarchaeological patterning of looted versus unlooted contexts, and a cross-validated logistic regression model was used to sort five unknown graves into looted and unlooted categories, providing a quantitative bioarchaeological method for the identification of looting.