The ASIS Foundation, the charitable research and education arm of ASIS International, has published applied research that assesses and provides recommendations for the security of historically important archaeological sites. Compiled by the ASIS International Cultural Properties Council, the report, Archaeological Site of COLONIA CLUNIA SUPLICIA (Clunia) Peñalba de Castro, Burgos, Spain, was made possible through a grant from the ASIS Foundation. ASIS International is the leading association for security management professionals worldwide.

The research, which evaluates the security of Clunia, an ancient Roman city on the Iberian Peninsula, includes a detailed site survey undertaken by James H. Clark, CPP, and Ricardo Sanz Marcos under the advisement of 2017 Cultural Properties Council chair Robert Carotenuto, CPP, PCI, PSP. Clark and Marcos identified conditions—such as weather, looting, and careless behavior—that could create security vulnerabilities for the site and its resources. The research team believes that the recommendations they draw from this survey are applicable at other archaeological sites.

“Most of the completed research on cultural site security focuses on how to protect them during times of war,” says Carotenuto. “These historical treasures are threatened during peace time as well. Our report demonstrates to the security community that you can apply common physical security techniques to protect any site.”

The Clunia report is the latest in the ASIS Foundation’s series of Connecting Research in Security to Practice (CRISP) reports—providing practical, researched-based solutions to help security professionals effectively tackle a wide range of security issues. Previous CRISP reports address issues of insider threat, supply chain security, sports team travel security, and more.