The thieves stealthily trucked ladders, an electricity generator and circular power saw into the Sierra Nevada’s Volcanic Tableland and carved, battered, and stole precious images carved into the area’s rugged cliffs some 3,500 years ago.
The event occurred on Halloween. The Los Angeles Times first reported the event on November 14, and television and eastern papers later carried spot accounts.
The media told when, where, and how the heist took place. There may be little hope of finding who did the deed, and no one has yet asked why they might have done it.
What was the motive for what archeologist Greg Haverstock of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management called, “the worst act of vandalism ever seen” on the Bureau’s 750,000-acre parkland?
Pondering the answer is interesting.
After all, the pillagers went to absurd lengths; this was hardly a Halloween prank. Clearly this was vandalism. But the evidence indicates it was much more than that.
Videos of the site show the thieves made clean careful cuts in removing four petroglyphs that occupied a spot 15 feet above ground. The pillagers botched one of the images, fruitlessly slicing into three sides. They managed to extract a sixth carving then apparently broke it. They left it near the site’s visitors’ parking lot. A dozen other images were defaced perhaps out of frustration, spite, or just for fun.
The theft outraged BLM officials, and grieved Paiute-Shoshone tribe members who regard the images as sacred. They treat the rock-carving site as a sort of church and bring their young there to learn of and venerate the tribe’s past and its traditions. The pillaging was to them equivalent to defacing Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall or the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Bernadette Lovato, BLM Office Manager at the site, said informing tribal leaders of the theft “was the toughest telephone call I ever had to make. Their culture and spiritual beliefs had been horribly violated.”
So why would the thieves go to such lengths? It’s estimated that the images might fetch between $500 and $1,000. That could be enough to temp down–and- out druggies or otherwise desperate people. But would they market images?
The carved- out slabs of stone are bulky and hard to transport, They’re not likely to show well at the local art fair. Importantly, reputable art dealers would probably know these images are stolen –bad news for the would-be seller.
Another possibility: the thieves were hired cop the images.
It’s well known that eccentric, greedy, and unscrupulous art connoisseurs will go to any lengths to obtain objects they covet. Such art collectors are known to hoard art even though they can’t display or sell acquired works that are too famous or are being actively sought. One example: In 1939 after the deaths of archeologist Howard Carter, precious bracelets and other objects stolen from King Tut’s tomb were found in his house. It was Carter who discovered the tomb.
Art crime is big time. It involves heists by mobsters, art dealers, small time hoods, and bungling amateurs. The FBI estimates that art-related crimes amount to some $6 billion a year. The agency has 14 special agents working to solve such crimes and operates the National Stolen Art File
It could take a while to find the culprits in the petroglyphs thefts. It’s not even clear the thefts are being investigated. Neither the FBI nor the Bureau of Land Management has responded to requests for information about the status of the case,
Someday though, those images which were patiently, tediously, and lovingly carved with the most primitive tools might turn up. They could be tossed on the side of the road, or thrown in a dump site, or charmingly mounted in the home of deceased art lover .
It’s even possible that whoever arranged or did the theft will have a change of heart and leave the rock carvings at the spot where they were taken.
I agree. That’s not likely.
--Gus Gribbin
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