Looting of the Fort Craig Cemetery: Damage Done and Lessons Learned

Abstract

The looting of archaeological sites is a common concern in the archaeological community. On average, over 850 archaeological sites are vandalized or looted from U.S. federal lands each year. This costs taxpayers nearly $5 million annually. This paper describes an egregious case that not only involved the looting of human remains from a Civil War/Indian wars era cemetery, but also the unethical complicity of members of the professional community. The preponderance of the evidence indicated that the remains of two Buffalo Soldiers from the abandoned military cemetery at Fort Craig, New Mexico, were illegally removed. Most of these remains were not recovered. The looting case prompted the Bureau of Reclamation to conduct full-scale archaeological recovery of additional remains not exhumed by the U.S. Army during the late 1800s. In all, 65 complete or near complete remains were recovered, analyzed, and reburied in July 2009. Two lessons emerged from this project: (1) professionals must be cognizant of whom they do business with to procure publishable information; and (2) they must balance their research agendas with an equal commitment to protect cultural resources.