A new study has systematically documented the damage inflicted on archaeological sites in Syria between 2011 and 2022, using satellite imagery and field survey data. The findings, published in the June 2025 issue of Archaeological Prospection, were authored by Abdulrahman Almohamad of the University of Cologne and a team of researchers from institutions in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
The study reviewed 370 archaeological sites across Syria and found that 42% showed evidence of damage during the country’s civil conflict. The highest levels of damage occurred in the governorates of Aleppo, Raqqa, Daraa, and Idlib. Damage types were classified as looting, agriculture, construction, earthmoving, military reuse, bombing, or other causes.
According to the authors, the most frequent forms of destruction were agricultural activity (22%), followed by construction (20%) and looting (19%). Only 5% of all damage was attributed to bombing or shelling. “These results indicate that damage from bombing, while often highlighted, is not the most widespread cause,” the researchers wrote.
The analysis used high-resolution satellite data from sources including WorldView and QuickBird, covering a timeline from before the war to late 2022. In total, 184 damaged sites were identified, of which 140 were affected after the conflict began. The authors also noted that many sites were damaged in more than one way.
The article emphasizes that damage was not distributed uniformly over time. A major increase in destruction occurred between 2012 and 2015, followed by a second peak from 2018 to 2020. Fieldwork conducted in Aleppo and Raqqa governorates validated the remote observations, confirming visual evidence of looting and military installations on ancient mounds.
The research was published in Archaeological Prospection, a peer-reviewed journal of the European Association of Archaeologists, and was supported by the ArcHerNet initiative under the German Federal Foreign Office.
Written with the help of a news-analysis system.