Grave robbing

Niflmir

A modern nomad
Dec 18, 2006
3,460
58
48
Leiden, the Netherlands
They say you can't take it with you, but that doesn't stop people from trying. Plenty of people decide to be buried with jewelry, fancy suits--heck, even money. Then we stick them in the ground, of which we have a limited supply of.

My question is, where's the crime in digging it up? It's not like they are going to use it. Certainly the new owners will get more satisfaction out of it. If they can do it with the musty old tombs of ancient pharoahs, why not the day old grave of a rich person?

Is it the history? Once you become really historical then we have an obligation to "liberate" your wealth? What if the person was really famous, like Einstein? Maybe we only have to wait a decade or two then?

I suppose it's like a relationship gone sour. You have to honor their memory for a sufficiently long time before you can get it on with that really hot person you know from the gym.

Any thoughts? (I'm not a grave robber, nor am I endorsing it... am I? No.)
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
I know it happens but I've never understood why people would wish to be buried with money and finery. I was once involved with the recovery of remains from an airforce accident. The plane had been down, no survivors, in the middle of the summer for almost two weeks when we found it. A corpse after two weeks in the summer heat is not something anybody would want to be around. Grave robbers would have to have cast iron stomachs to fish around corpses looking for valuables. I don't have any strong moral objections against robbing the dead but I couldn't do it.
 

kiwi_NZ

Electoral Member
May 23, 2009
889
8
18
New Zealand
But who does it belong to? If I come across a gemstone in the middle of the desert, is it theft? I do not own the land, and surely somebody does.

The topic is on grave robbing goods buried with the dead.

i.e. I die, my kids bury me with my Jewell's, you dig my grave up, steal my Jewell's, that is theft. Who does it belong to? Obviously me if I was buried with it.

Finding a gemstone in the middle of the desert is simply "lost" and "found" so completely different scenario and irrelevant
 

Niflmir

A modern nomad
Dec 18, 2006
3,460
58
48
Leiden, the Netherlands
The topic is on grave robbing goods buried with the dead.

i.e. I die, my kids bury me with my Jewell's, you dig my grave up, steal my Jewell's, that is theft. Who does it belong to? Obviously me if I was buried with it.

Finding a gemstone in the middle of the desert is simply "lost" and "found" so completely different scenario and irrelevant

But how can the dead own anything? What is to stop me from being buried with the deeds to my land, so that nobody can ever own that property again? Why not assign ownership of a toxic chemical plant to a dead person, so that if it blows up, they are to blame?
 

kiwi_NZ

Electoral Member
May 23, 2009
889
8
18
New Zealand
But how can the dead own anything? What is to stop me from being buried with the deeds to my land, so that nobody can ever own that property again? Why not assign ownership of a toxic chemical plant to a dead person, so that if it blows up, they are to blame?

Now you're bordering on the ridiculous and not making sense at all and off topic, ha!
 

Unforgiven

Force majeure
May 28, 2007
6,770
137
63
I mean, it's not like they need it or anything...
That fine edge between the practical and the moral. A diamond found in the desert is not without ownership. Consider that something found must be turned in to authorities so that the rightful owner has opportunity to claim the article.

Further, as part of an estate, location a moot point, the beneficiaries mentioned in the Will have a claim on that diamond as well.

Those buried are not really at all the same as an ancient people of whom all actual connections are lost, are not the same as rich old uncle Alphonse who has a connection, assumed, with this world.

There are some rules that come into play when you die and an accounting of your worth is one of them. Of course taxes are a part of that as well as those who you must pay to provide the sort of funeral and ceremony you are sent off with.

What remains is left to those who you bequeath them to, or split evenly among those you leave behind. Without a will, I think anything over $200,000 goes to the government.

But it's at no point, free money. Good try though. You will find that the government is there before you, and should the for some reason be a little slow, you can rest assured that they will enforce their own claim first.

There are also laws that come into play in things like ship wrecks and any mishap that leaves people dead and their belongings behind. Someone can come along and find them, but they still remain the property of those who can show legitimate ownership.
 

darkbeaver

the universe is electric
Jan 26, 2006
41,035
201
63
RR1 Distopia 666 Discordia
There are laws and there are other laws. The living always trump the dead in my book. The dead are removed from earthly considerations the living must endure, the gold is mine the jewels are mine the silver is mine the dead can keep the dirt. I hope they don't read this.