Vandals Wipe Out Prehistoric Rock Art in Southern Libya

What a shame...now vandals are painting graffiti over ancient cave art. Have these people no shame? Don't they realize that this is human history which can't be replaced...?

Located along Libya's southwestern tip bordering Algeria, the Tadrart Acacus mountain massif is famous for thousands of cave paintings and carvings going back up to 14,000 years. The art, painted or carved on rocks sandwiched by spectacular sand dunes, showcase the changing flora and fauna of the Sahara stretching over thousands of years.

According to the article there is a lawless issue after the fall of Ghaddafi and that lawlessness has spread to ancient art and the murdering of wildlife. The ousting of Gaddafi has destabilized the area in Northern Africa that's for sure. It could lead to more problems if not monitored carefully. What say ATS?

www.nbcnews.com...

a reply to: lostbook

The only reason the vandals had a chance to do this is because the wests bombs failed to hit it

I understand your sentiment but unfortunately almost nothing is sacred in this plastic world.

Happens all the time everywhere. Most Greek bronze sculptures don't exist any more because they were melted down to get at the bronze. The facing stones on the Great Pyramid were stripped off and used to build Cairo. The Avebury stones in Britain were used to build houses. Mussolini built a modern road right through the middle of the ancient Roman Forum. The Taliban destroyed huge statues of Buddha in Afghanistan because they offended their Muslim sensibilities. Throughout Europe Catholic churches were intentionally built atop pagan worship centers to replace them. Most modern cities are built on top of the ruins of older cities, from Troy to London. Throughout history succeeding generations have "appropriated" the work of previous generations. Sometimes it was because of expediency and the need for raw materials ready at hand and sometimes it was vandalism, either for the fun of destruction or to obliterate pagan images. Ironically, it's tradition, more par for the course than not.

originally posted by: schuyler
Happens all the time everywhere. Most Greek bronze sculptures don't exist any more because they were melted down to get at the bronze. The facing stones on the Great Pyramid were stripped off and used to build Cairo. The Avebury stones in Britain were used to build houses. Mussolini built a modern road right through the middle of the ancient Roman Forum. The Taliban destroyed huge statues of Buddha in Afghanistan because they offended their Muslim sensibilities. Throughout Europe Catholic churches were intentionally built atop pagan worship centers to replace them. Most modern cities are built on top of the ruins of older cities, from Troy to London. Throughout history succeeding generations have "appropriated" the work of previous generations. Sometimes it was because of expediency and the need for raw materials ready at hand and sometimes it was vandalism, either for the fun of destruction or to obliterate pagan images. Ironically, it's tradition, more par for the course than not.

Sad but true. So much history has been lost.