Archaeology stimulates interest in ancient objects, but it can also attract unwelcome attention by looters to these places{{Fact|date=October 2007}}. The commercial demand for artifacts encourages looting and the [[illicit antiquities]] trade, which smuggles items abroad to private collectors. Looters damage or destroy archaeological sites, deny archaeologists valuable information that would be recovered from excavation, and ultimately rob people of the opportunity to know their past. | Archaeology stimulates interest in ancient objects, but it can also attract unwelcome attention by looters to these places{{Fact|date=October 2007}}. The commercial demand for artifacts encourages looting and the [[illicit antiquities]] trade, which smuggles items abroad to private collectors. Looters damage or destroy archaeological sites, deny archaeologists valuable information that would be recovered from excavation, and ultimately rob people of the opportunity to know their past. |