Introduction

Archaeological looting is a recognised global problem, particularly in areas experiencing conflict. Recent research has demonstrated that archaeological looting attempts and armed conflict are temporally related (see Fabiani, 2018); however, a temporal relationship is not sufficient alone to establish a baseline understanding of which sites are most likely looted. Events may appear temporally related that occur at opposite ends of a country. As such, it is important to also look quantitatively at the spatial relationship between these two phenomena. Few studies have examined archaeological looting in relation to contextual factors (e.g., conflict) spatially due to the lack of available data on looting attempts. This study uses newly collected data on archaeological looting attempts from 3,199 satellite images from multiple sources to investigate the spatial relationship between archaeological looting and armed conflict in Lower Egypt from 2015 to 2017. These data allow for a more systematic approach to identifying what, if any, spatial relationship exists between looting attempts and conflict. The results suggest that though there is a spatial relationship between archaeological looting and conflict, it varies by type of conflict, and situational opportunity appears to play a key role in determining looting.