#tombarolo

by Suzie Thomas

‘Tombarolo’ is an Italian term (plural ‘tombaroli’), derived from the Italian word ‘tomba’, meaning tomb or grave.

It refers primarily to ‘tomb-robbers’ operating in Italy (Mackenzie and Green 2009: 3), although the term ‘clandestini’ (meaning ‘illegals’ or ‘clandestines’ in Italian) has also been used to describe clandestine diggers (Renfrew 2000: 17), and a tombarolo might not necessarily limit their activities only to tombs and graves; for example sometimes removing material from villas and other sites (Watson and Todeschini 2006: 151).