Eight crates containing 33 archaeological artifacts and 600 coins, including some ancient masterpieces dating to the 12th and 13th centuries B.C., arrived at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens from Munich end of March 2017. The remarkable finds, most in very good condition, included amphorae, bird-shaped vases, a pottery statue of a chariot driver and…
In an international conference, organised by Working with Cultural Objects and Manuscripts (WCOM), which will take place at the National Museum of Finland, Helsinki, on June 5-6, 2017, the topic of trafficked cultural objects in Finland is adressed. This in order to generate awareness and kick-start a national debate. The conference is organised with funding…
About 200 Etruscan, Apulian and Magna Graecia vases, small statues, ceramics and bronze archaeological finds illegally kept in the house of a former art dealer have been recovered by the Italian police in Cossato, northern Italy. The looted pieces, dating from the eighth to third centuries BC and with an estimated value of well over…
One of the artifacts stolen from the Kocaeli Archaeology Museum in 2009 has been found at an auction in Germany. The Culture and Tourism Ministry reported theft of the Roman-era colour marble relief, which is valued at around 32,000 euros in the auction, to Interpol. Following the illegal excavations there, the Kocaeli Archaeology Museum initiated…
Trading in antiquities in Israel requires a license sanctioned by the Antiquities Authority (IAA). Currently, however, only a small number of dealers are only allowed to trade items that that came into private hands prior to the year 1978. Since that time, every antiquity discovered in Israel is property of the state and cannot be…
As recently posted, the Royal-Athena Galleries, New York,had until recently a sarcophagus, which presents a battle between Greeks and Trojans (c. 200 A.D.), on sale. The gallery is owned by Dr. Jerome Eisenberg, New York, and has a more than doubtful history, since it is tighly connected with the Italian illicit antiquities dealer Gianfranco Becchina.…
A private exhibition archaeological objects by of A.L. in Olbia, Italy, rises again the discussion on who is allowed to keep and exhibit such objects.About 77 objects of Etruscan and Roman origin were found. In Italy, private persons are obliged to proof the legal ownership of the archaeological objects, and have to inform the Soprintendenza in…
Geneva’s art world suffered another blow to its reputation in November when prosecutors seized pillaged Syrian antiquities from the city’s free port, raising concerns about money laundering and terrorist financing. Now a group of art dealers, lawyers and consultants is fighting back. Under the banner of the Responsible Art Market Initiative, the group published a set of…
Europol has joined forces with law enforcement authorities from 18 countries, INTERPOL, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the World Customs Organization (WCO) to tackle the theft and illicit trafficking of cultural goods. Operation Pandora, as EUROPOL just noticed in a press release on January 23, 2016, was successfully led by…
La Repubblica.it and other journals informs today, January 18, 2017 that 12 persons were arrested since they were caught to be involved in plundering archaeological sites in Crotone, Calabria (Southern Italy) since years and selling their finds on the black market. The group of tombaroli was lead by numismatic prof. P. G. Attianese. With him arrested was…
EAA-Community on the Illicit Trade in Cultural Material 