At the foot of a mountain covered with Roman villas and antique olive oil factories, the shrine of Sufi saint Sidi Boughanem sits atop buried structures and catacombs that date back to the Roman and Byzantine periods.
Objects of significant historical and cultural value often end up on the European market and in the homes of Tunisia’s rich and powerful, he explained. Figures from the INP, which is tasked with protecting and recording the country’s artefacts, show that the team has received more than 25 000 recovered archaeological items since the 2011 uprising.
Bigger sites are guarded around the clock, according to the INP, while less significant sites have security guards during the day. But the sheer number of small sites makes it impossible to keep an eye on all of them, said Nejma. “You see holes, you notice with the placement of stones that someone has been there,” she said. “People are looking for statues or gold and jewellery.”
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