Those mild-mannered Archaeologists...

And here I was, thinking that Indiana Jones and Lara Croft were gross caricatures of what life is really like for an archaeologist. Then I read an article that sounds like something out of a cyberpunk story, dealing with the problem of artefact theft in Iraq. Informants mark out smuggler's stashes with GPS and digital cameras, and then disguised Carabinieri launch a raid to recover looted artworks. Lamenting the 2-3 year sentences given to smugglers, an Iraqi archaeologist muses that "It's not enough. They should be getting 10 years or more. I would like to kill them, but then what happens to human rights in this country?"

From http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1398822.htm

On the ground, archaeologist Abdal Amir Hamdani, in charge of antiquities for Dhi Qar province, home to some of Iraq's most famous archaeological sites, says his focus has shifted from looters to smugglers.

Hamdani uses what he calls a "hunting dog", a former looter turned paid informant, who follows up rumours and goes out with a digital camera and global positioning system (GPS) equipment to locate and mark smugglers' houses.

Italian Carabinieri forces disguised as Bedouin then go with Hamdani to carry out often fruitful raids.