Here's how archaeologists are saving some of the world's most precious artifacts from destruction

Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

A volunteer with the Israel Antiquities Authority works at the Cave of the Skulls, an excavation site in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea.

In December 2014, a gang of robbers was caught red-handed attempting to steal a set of several-thousand-year-old artifacts in the Dead Sea. The group of six was arrested, but not before they caused extensive damage to an important site archaeologists know as the "Cave of Skulls."

Roughly a year and a half later, Israeli archaeologists are wrapping up the largest excavation in the Judean desert in the past 50 years, in an attempt to save other artifacts from future damage. They're searching for any artifacts they can save, particularly any remains of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of ancient texts written on papyrus and parchment.

Ahead, see how archaeologists perform their excavations.