Is archaeology a "grave robbery"?

Archaeology is the investigation and study of ancient ruins.

The object of archaeology is the physical data left by ancient human activities. The physical data referred to here should generally be the artificial products of conscious processing by ancient humans. Such as tools, weapons, objects or houses, tombs, castles and buildings built by human beings. If it is a natural object that has not been processed by human beings, it must be determined that it is related to or can reflect human activities. For example, natural stones used for building houses and collecting animal and plant remains left by fishing and hunting activities. These also belong to archaeological research objects.

Grave robbery refers to the act that an individual or group illegally enters a mausoleum that does not belong to their own property and takes out the items for their own use. Its occurrence is usually accompanied by irreparable damage to ancient tombs. Archaeology, similar to grave robbery, is generally a large-scale behavior of official organizations entering ancient tombs to take out the contents for archaeological analysis. The most fundamental difference between archaeology and grave robbery is that grave robbery is for personal illegal interests and will cause great damage to cultural relics. Archaeology, on the other hand, is for the benefit of society, and the items taken out are generally stored in museums or entered into the national archives for research, restoration and protection. It is quite ignorant to equate grave robbery with archaeology.

Grave robbing often affects the research work of historians and archaeologists, because grave robbers often dig graves before experts, and their purpose is usually only for the high-value and exquisite funerary objects in the grave, and it is very likely that the integrity of the grave will be destroyed intentionally or unintentionally in the process of grave robbing.