[[File:Adad-Nirari stela.jpg|thumb|right|[[Stela]] of a king named [[Adad-Nirari]]. Object stolen from the Iraq National Museum in the looting in connection with the [[Iraq war]] of 2003.]]

Looting of archaeological sites is an ancient problem. For instance, many of the tombs of the Egyptian [[pharaoh]]s were looted during [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]]. Archaeology stimulates interest in ancient objects, and people in search of artifacts or treasure cause damage to archaeological sites. The commercial and academic demand for artifacts unfortunately contributes directly to the [[illicit antiquities]] trade. Smuggling of antiquities abroad to private collectors has caused great cultural and economic damage in many countries whose governments lack the resources and or the will to deter it. Looters damage and destroy archaeological sites, denying future generations information about their ethnic and cultural heritage. Indigenous peoples especially lose access to and control over their 'cultural resources', ultimately denying them the opportunity to know their past.

Popular consciousness often associates looting with poor [[Third World]] countries, but this is a false assumption. A lack of financial resources and political will are chronic worldwide problems inhibiting more effective protection of archaeological sites. Many Native American Indians today, such as [[Vine Deloria, Jr.]], consider any removal of cultural artifacts from a Native American Indian site to be theft, and much of professional archaeology as academic looting.

In 1937 W. F. Hodge the Director of the [[Southwest Museum]] in [[Los Angeles]] CA, released a statement that the museum would no longer purchase or accept collections from looted contexts. The first conviction of the transport of artifacts illegally removed from private property under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA; Public Law 96-95; 93 Statute 721; 16 U.S.C. 470aamm) was in 1992 in the State of Indiana.

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