The Sipán Affair

Shows the extent to which archaeology is losing out to an underworld of looters, smugglers and dealers, and reveals the clandestine face of the art market and the forces which are destroying ancient sites throughout the world, by concentrating on the Sipan tombs. The discovery of the tombs of the Lords of Sipan in Northern Peru caused a sensation when they were discovered by a family of grave robbers in 1987. The programme reveals how gold from Sipan ended up in the hands of wealthy collectors in the US and exposes the detailed workings of an international antiquities smuggling ring.