Seven ancient statues and pottery vessels are headed back to their homeland in Italy after authorities said they tracked down the stolen items in New York City. Dating back as far as the eighth century B.C., the artifacts were looted by Italian tomb raiders in the 1990s, then were smuggled out of the country and…
Bulgaria recovers over 5,000 antiquities in joint anti-smuggling op with Turkey, France. Bulgarian officials said Friday they had recovered over 5,600 smuggled antiquities and arrested 22 members of two international smuggling rings in a joint operation with Turkey and France. A tip-off by the Bulgarian services eighteen months ago has led to the dismantling of…
Le 29 novembre de l’année dernière, la Commission belge francophone et germanophone pour l’UNESCO organisait une Journée d’étude sur le thème du trafic illicite des biens culturels, en tant que source de financement du terrorisme et des groupes armés. Vous avez peut-être eu l’occasion d’y assister et de constater à quel point les débats furent…
A recently published article by Nick Romeo at the National Geographic’s webpage describes the work of Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis who detects regularly illicit objects in museum’s collections and auction houses. The article is cited in the following. A few years ago, Christos Tsirogiannis was looking through the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s online collection when he…
Syria and Iraq: Culture at Risk. Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Goods – 31/03/2017, Stockholm (Sweden) In the footsteps of war and unrest, antiquities are being looted from ancient sites and museums. These objects are sold illegally on a growing international market. This trade is a strong threat to proper documentation of our cultural heritage and…
Illegal excavations that have been continuing for the last three months in the ancient city of Myndos in Bodrum’s Gümüşlük neighborhood have elicited the anger of locals due to the lack of any action to halt the activity. “They’re doing whatever they want in the ancient city. Treasure hunters are looting the national treasures…
The UNESCO Doha Office in partnership with Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority is organizing a workshop on “Ethics of collections and fight against illicit traffic of cultural heritage in the GCC” from the 2nd to the 4th of April in the Bab al Qasr hotel in Abu Dhabi. The illicit import, export and transfer…
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…
In a joint US-UK initiative financed by the SmartWater Foundation, the not-for-profit arm of the international crime-fighting company, SmartWater, a team of undercover operatives and trained Syrian Archaeologists have successfully applied SmartWater’s unique ‘traceable liquid’ to some of Syria’s most treasured historical artifacts, including two precious mosaics from the UNESCO World Heritage designated site of…
EAA-Community on the Illicit Trade in Cultural Material 