Lords of Sipan: A True Story of Pre-Inca Tombs, Archaeology, and Crime

by Sidney D. Kirkpatrick

Archaeological thefts

Mentioned in 1 episode

This is the critically acclaimed "Raiders of the Lost Art" true story of the looting, recovery and excavation of priceless art and artifacts from the tombs of Sipan, on the north coast of Peru. Written by award-winning New York Times best-selling author Sidney D. Kirkpatrick, Lords of Sipan has all the elements of great fiction: Priceless antiquities entombed in an ancient pyramid; sinister looters; slick black-market smugglers; and a brilliant and dedicated archaeologist who risks his life to restore the treasures to their native country. But for all its heroics and its compelling plot, the real dramatic twist is that this story is true. Not since Howard Carter excavated Tutankhamun's tomb has an archaeological narrative been so engaging and rich with suspense and intrigue.Tracking a crime trail across three continents, Kirkpatrick meticulously researched one man's struggle to excavate and protect the greatest archaeological discovery ever made in the Western Hemisphere. For more than a millennium, tons of rock and brick had preserved priceless treasure of an ancient Peruvian civilization known as the Moche. Deep in a pyramid at Sipan, hidden in a long-lost tomb of a pre-Incan Moche Lord, were golden masks, jeweled artifacts, and invaluable remnants of a mysterious, vanished civilization.Looters were picking up seemingly insignificant gold beads when the leader stumbled into a king's ransom of artifacts. Within hours, most of it was headed for the black market-and out of the country.Dr. Walter Alva, noted Peruvian archaeologist and museum curator, was soon racing against time to halt the exodus of the antiquities and to prevent further looting. Police and U.S. Customs agents, employing secret informants and antiquities experts, began an undercover investigation that sent shock waves through the international art world, culminating in: *the most comprehensive seizure of pre-Columbian antiquities in U.S. history, *the conviction of David Swetnam, the first man in the

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