This came up on my Google.com news alert a few hours ago, Eric picked it up as well.
To me this story only highlights the Pirates and Looters of history theme I have chimed in on often and whom I loath so much. From Civil War correspondences, artifacts, and now trophies of sorts… nothing is off limits to these robber barons of history. Just a matter of time until corpses turn up on Ebay:
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Working in secret, federal archaeologists have dug up the remains of dozens of soldiers and children near a Civil War-era fort after an informant tipped them off about widespread grave-looting.
The exhumations, conducted from August to October, removed 67 skeletons from the parched desert soil around Fort Craig — 39 men, two women and 26 infants and children, according to two federal archaeologists who helped with the dig.
They also found scores of empty graves and determined 20 had been looted.
The government kept its exhumation of the unmarked cemetery near the historic New Mexico fort out of the public’s eye for months to prevent more thefts.
The investigation began with a tip about an amateur historian who had displayed the mummified remains of a black soldier, draped in a Civil War-era uniform, in his house.
Investigators say the historian, Dee Brecheisen, may have been a prolific looter who spotted historical sites from his plane. Brecheisen died in 2004 and although it was not clear whether the looting continued after his death, authorities exhumed the unprotected site to prevent future thefts.
