NEWS&ANALYSIS

many collection curators believe a full speci- men is needed to create an accurate record. For F. Gary Stiles, curator of the bird collec- tion at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, the attempt to designate the feath- ers and photographs as the holotype is “sci- entifi cally irresponsible.” ProAves’s publication also caused dis- sent inside the foundation’s leadership. “I thought it was just too much to steal a young man’s discovery of a lifetime that way,” says ornithologist Niels Krabbe of the University of Copenhagen, one of two ProAves board members to resign in protest. Two months later, a description by Carantón and a co-author appeared, this time in the journal of the Colombian Asso- ciation of Ornithology. They called the bird G. urraoensis. In a lengthy editorial, Cadena ARCHAEOLOGY and Stiles said ProAves had probably won naming priority but charged “grave faults” in the organization’s scientifi c ethics. Ten Years After Buddhas Destroyed, Carantón’s defenders argue that Carantón has a “moral right” to his discovery, despite Afghans Work to Save Monastery any missteps. They call the case the latest in on March 12, 2012 a series of hard-boiled moves by ProAves First they fi red artillery. Then they exploded National Museum in and recovering aimed at gratifying British and Ameri- bombs. Ultimately, the ’s destruction important artifacts— still lacks can donors and generating publicity at the of the world’s two largest Buddha statues, funds and expertise to secure ancient sites and expense of Colombian researchers. “They which began a decade ago this week, required disrupt looting networks. have created a lot of tension in the country,” explosive charges up and down the vast The Bamiyan anniversary and next week’s says ornithologist Luis Germán Naranjo, niches holding the statues. The Buddhas had opening of the fi rst exhibit on the fi nds at who is conservation director for the World stood watch over central Afghanistan’s Bami- Mes Aynak, at the National Museum, are Wide Fund for Nature in Colombia. yan Valley for some 1500 years, until the Tal- putting the spotlight on Afghanistan’s belea- www.sciencemag.org There is little question that ProAves has iban fi nally demolished them in March 2001. guered heritage. Once thought to be iso- been successful in protecting birds. Since This week, cultural heritage offi cials met in lated outposts, monasteries such as those its founding in 2001, the organization has Paris to review years of work to stabilize the at Mes Aynak and Bamiyan now appear to bought 22,000 hectares of Andean habitat, fragile niches and to prepare for the spring have been large and complex centers that creating 18 reserves for 91 threatened spe- opening of an open-air museum at the site. played a crucial role in linking India, Central cies. That land includes some of the only Even as they acknowledge this notorious Asia, and China. At Bamiyan, the destroyed known habitat of the Colorful Puffleg, a anniversary, Afghan archaeologists are focus- Buddhas—38 and 55 meters high, respec- hummingbird, and ProAves is credited with ing on another Buddhist complex 200 kilo- tively—were the most dramatic part of a Downloaded from a resurgence of the rare Yellow-eared Parrot. meters south of Bamiyan that stands in peril of monastic community that included a network Success has brought a list of over 100 destruction, called Mes Aynak. The threat here of caves fi lled with exquisitely detailed paint- mostly foreign donors, including the U.S. is not Taliban intolerance but development: ings. Many were destroyed before and during Fish and Wildlife Service and ABC. Paul Mes Aynak’s giant mounds of monasteries the Taliban’s rule, though Japanese experts Salaman, conservation director at World happen to sit atop the world’s second largest are conserving the remainder. Mes Aynak, Land Trust in Washington, D.C., and an deposit of copper. The government and a Chi- a half-hour’s drive south of Kabul, has never infl uential ProAves board member, says “the nese mining company have agreed to delay been excavated but included 19 ancient settle- meteoric rise” of ProAves may have gener- operations, to avoid an embarrassing replay of ments within a 40-hectare area, says Philippe ated resentment. “It wants to get things done, Bamiyan. But to preserve Mes Aynak’s trea- Marquis, head of the French archaeological and that upsets people,” says Salaman. sures will require a huge international rescue mission based in Kabul, who recently com- Some researchers still hope G. urraoen- effort—perhaps the largest archaeological pleted a detailed survey. sis could win out before international bod- endeavor ever undertaken in Afghanistan, A Chinese company was awarded a ies that rule on species names. However, says Brendan Cassar, the UNESCO cultural $3.5 billion contract to mine copper at Mes Ellinor Michel, executive secretary of the heritage offi cer in Kabul. Plans for the project Aynak—the largest such contract in the coun- International Commission on Zoological face time, money, and security constraints in try’s history. It intended to begin mining last Nomenclature in London, says it will be dif- the war-torn country. year despite the unexcavated archaeological fi cult to unseat G. fenwickorum. “If the publi- “Cultural heritage in Afghanistan is still riches. Following an international outcry cation by ProAves [was] legitimate, then the under threat 10 years after Bamiyan,” adds (Science, 30 July 2010, p. 496), the Afghan name they gave will stand,” she says. Cassar. He and others say that although there Ministry of Mines agreed in September to

–ANTONIO REGALADO have been successes—such as renovating the allow researchers time to excavate the area SHAH MARAI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/NEWSCOM CREDIT:

1124 4 MARCH 2011 VOL 331 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org Published by AAAS NEWS&ANALYSIS

Gone, but not forgotten. A massive niche stands provide $4 million for initial work, that the ularly patrol the boundaries, and a camp for empty at Bamiyan (left page). Philippe Marquis International Security Assistance Force, Chinese workers has been built in the center, (above in beret, at Mes Aynak) and Omar Sultan (far based in Kabul, may also contribute, and enclosing one of the monasteries partially right) struggle to preserve what’s left of Afghani- that the Chinese government recently agreed excavated in 2009. But smelters and a rail- stan’s heritage. to provide archaeologists to help. Given the road to ship the copper to China are still lack- sheer size and scope of the project, however, ing, and one offi cial close to the project says and conserve the hundreds of fragile statues “we may need more time beyond 3 years,” that given the world economic downturn, the and wall paintings before operations begin. says Marquis. “It’s not a hell of a lot of time company may be in no rush to begin copper on March 12, 2012 “We will have 3 years to excavate the site,” to excavate a site of that extent,” adds Vienna extraction. Mining will require destruction of says Omar Sultan, deputy minister of cul- University art historian Deborah Klimburg- the site, offi cials say, so archaeologists must ture in Kabul. Salter, who visited the site late last year and decide what is worth rescuing before those Sultan, an archaeologist, was the one who was stunned by its size and obvious impor- operations begin. fi rst spotted the importance of Mes Aynak in tance. Omara Khan Masoudi, who directs the The early results of the Mes Aynak digs the mid-1970s. But excavators began probing National Museum in Kabul, fears the ticking will be on display at the fi rst public exhibi- the site only in 2009, shortly after the mining clock. “If we lose the artifacts, we lose our tion of the site’s materials, which will open on contract was awarded. They quickly began to heritage,” he says. 15 March at the National Museum. “We advo- www.sciencemag.org uncover a dazzling array of richly decorated Already, security fences are in place cate an extension of the museum to house the monasteries and related settlements that fl our- around the rugged site, which lies in a Taliban- new material from sites like Mes Aynak,” says ished from the early centuries C.E. until after friendly area. Nearly 2000 Afghan guards reg- Cassar. A U.S. embassy source says the Amer- the arrival of Islam in the 7th century C.E., ican ambassador may use the Mes Aynak including wall paintings and large reclining, opening as an occasion to pledge “a signifi - sitting, and standing Buddhas, as well as cha- cant commitment” to the museum. pels, , and dormitories. Meanwhile, back at Bamiyan, Cassar says Like Bamiyan, Mes Aynak was a cen- proposals to reconstruct the massive Buddhas Downloaded from ter of learning that helped spread Buddhism were rejected as expensive and impractical. throughout and into China, says Conservators have instead spent $5 million art historian John Huntington of Ohio State in the past 7 years fi xing dangerous cracks in University in Columbus. The monasteries the niches, removing unexploded mines and also appear to have played important eco- bombs from under the statues’ rubble, and nomic and political roles. The monks and conserving what they can of the fragments for residents at Mes Aynak, for example, mined display. Ironically, the Buddhas’ destruction copper for profit. Buddhism was thought left piles of pegs, timbers, and other elements to have been snuffed out with the arrival of that provide new insight into how the massive Islam, but increasing evidence suggests that structures were built. A German-led team has the two faiths coexisted, with Hinduism and dated fragments of the statues to the 6th cen- , for centuries. tury C.E., later than scholars once thought, Researchers say a thorough excavation and confi rmed that the Buddhas were brightly of Mes Aynak will be a Herculean effort that painted—the larger with orange robes, the could require $45 million and 1000 workers. smaller in white (http://scim.ag/Bud-dhas). A multimillion-dollar 10,000-square-meter The story of their creation, along with that of conservation facility is slated to be built the destruction, will be laid out in the mod- nearby, with funding provided by the U.S. est open-air museum slated to open as early government, according to offi cials in Kabul. Troubled treasures. This Buddha from Mes Aynak as this spring in the remote valley northwest –ANDREW LAWLER CREDITS: (TOP, LEFT TO RIGHT) A. LAWLER; PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN/GETTY IMAGES; (BOTTOM) SHAH MARAI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/NEWSCOM SHAH MARAI/AFP/GETTY (BOTTOM) IMAGES; LE SEGRETAIN/GETTY PASCAL A. LAWLER; TO RIGHT) LEFT CREDITS: (TOP, Marquis says the World Bank has agreed to shows the ancient monastery’s sophistication. of Kabul.

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