Dougald O’Reilly is an archaeologist and the founder and director of Heritage Watch, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation of Southeast Asia’s cultural heritage. We chatted with Dougald by e-mail in a conversation that traversed looting, antiquities trafficking, Cambodia’s struggle to preserve its history and, well, he did mention Tomb Raider once.
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What is Heritage Watch’s raison d’etre? Heritage Watch was founded in 2003 due to the alarming rate of heritage destruction in Cambodia. This seems to have been initiated by the illegal excavation of a site called Phum Snay. The finds at Snay led others around Cambodia to look for ancient burials and a massive trade in carnelian and agate and other artefacts grew. The organisation is dedicated to slowing the trade in antiquities and the looting of archaeological sites in Cambodia, both temple sites and archaeological sites older than the Angkor ... Travelfish members only (Full text is around 700 words.)
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