[CPProt.net] Tomb raiders and the phantom army. A comic book is the latest weapon in the fight against looters

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Tomb raiders and the phantom army
by Guy De Launey
A comic book is the latest weapon in the fight against looters
 
 
CAMBODIAN tomb raiders have made a mockery of every institution that has
tried to stop them so far. 
The government's Heritage Department proved powerless, the police and local
authorities have failed and even Unesco has made little impact. Now a comic
book is being used to fight against the looters. 
 
Wrath of the Phantom Army plays on popular superstitions to ward off
potential raiders. When the protagonists dig up ancient graves in search of
treasure, the village animals fall sick. 

As they continue to loot, an army of skeletons rises from a burial mound to
confront them. The young men soon conclude that grave robbing is a
profession with no future. 

Heritage Watch, the archaeological organisation, hopes that the launch of
the comic last night in Siem Reap, Cambodia's cultural centre, will at least
slow the looting. The main historical sites such as Angkor Wat and its
surrounding temples are now well protected, but Cambodia's less-celebrated
monuments are regularly plundered. 

Preah Khan temple in Kompong Svey province is a case in point. Once
considered a rival of Angkor Wat, its isolation has proved to be its
undoing. 

One night, five years ago, the local official of the Heritage Department
heard the chink of chisel on stone coming from the temple and went to
investigate. He found the temple surrounded by armed men, was beaten and
then fled for his life. 

Many of the artefacts are stolen to order for clients overseas, but some end
up on sale at international auction houses or on the internet. 

Ancient necklaces, beads and even statues can easily be found at markets in
Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. 

Many rural villages are built on or near ancient burial grounds without the
inhabitants even realising. When antiques dealers find out about the grave
sites and offer the impoverished villagers cash for anything they find, they
spark a frenzy of digging and inadvertent destruction. 

Dougald O'Reilly, the director of Heritage Watch, said: "The cemeteries that
people are destroying every day represent the answers to those questions of
how we came to be where we are today, not just as Cambodians, but as human
beings, so it's priceless information. 

"It's our responsibility to at least give people an informed opinion about
what they're doing." 

The comic uses a wise old monk to educate the looters in the error of their
ways. Illiteracy is common in Cambodia's villages, and a picture- heavy,
text-light publication stands at least a chance of making an impact. Its use
of ghosts is also likely to strike a chord in a highly superstitious
country. 

Nonetheless, some remain highly sceptical. At the old market in Siem Reap,
only a few miles from Angkor Wat, Srey Raksmey, read the comic surrounded by
the prehistoric gold beads and ancient temple bells in her souvenir shop. 

"People in the villages have money problems," she said. "As long as they're
poor and the dealers have cash, they'll continue to dig."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/