Authorities Warn of Heavy Penalties for Archaeological Vandalism The Institute of Archaeology is speaking out tonight after graffiti was spotted at Xunantunich. Sadly, this isn’t the first time vandals have targeted Belize’s treasured monuments. Defacing these sites is disrespectful, it’s also a serious crime. We’re talking fines of up to seventy-five thousand dollars or even five years behind bars. Director Dr. Melissa Badillo says these ancient structures are irreplaceable windows into our pas

Nearly 1,500 years ago, a Byzantine merchant ship swung perilously close to the Sicilian coastline, its heavy stone cargo doing little to help keep it on course. A wave lifted the vessel’s 100-foot hull and dashed it on a reef, sending as much as 150 tons of stone—columns, capitals, bases, and even an ornate church pulpit—to the seafloor. Archaeologist Justin Leidwanger has been excavating the Justinian-era “Church Wreck” near Marzamemi since 2014. He joined the Archaeological Institute of Ameri