UAB Archaeologists Sarah Parcak, Gregory Mumford Awarded Antiquity Prize

By Tiffany Westry

University of Alabama at Birmingham professor Sarah Parcak, Ph.D., and associate professor Gregory Mumford, Ph.D., have been awarded the 2017 Antiquity Prize by Antiquity, a peer-reviewed journal of world archaeology, published by Cambridge University Press.

Each year, the journal awards a prize for the best article published the previous year. The journal’s editorial advisory board is asked to nominate a short list, from which the winners are chosen by the Antiquity Trust. Parcak and Mumford received the award for their journal article, “Satellite evidence of archaeological site looting in Egypt: 2002–2013,” published in the February 2016 issue of Antiquity.

Using Google Earth, Parcak, Mumford and collaborators David Gathings, Chase Childs and Eric Cline looked at satellite images from 1,100 archaeological sites in Egypt’s Nile Valley and Delta between 2002 and 2013. The group found that looting escalated dramatically in 2009 with the onset of the global economic crisis, and intensified with the Arab Spring in 2011. The team also noted an increased volume of Egyptian artifacts sold at auctions around the world, suggesting that looting is driven by external demand as well as internal economic pressures.Of the 1,100 archaeological sites monitored, the team found evidence of looting at 267 sites and counted roughly 200,000 looting pits. Archaeological excavations were being conducted at 12 of the sites, nine were ticketed tourist attractions and three were UNESCO World Heritage sites.

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