Celebrating a repatriation decades in the making, U.S. and Italian law enforcement gathered in New York on Thursday with ancient statues, flasks and other artifacts set to be returned overseas. Bronzes of a Sardinian warrior and ox from the 8th century B.C., a Greek bronze of Heracles believed to be from the 3rd or 4th…
Sotheby’s offers the upper part of a Greek marble funerary stele on his next auction in London, on June 12, 2017 (lot 8) (see picture on the right). The funerary stele derives clearly from the confiscated Gianfranco Becchina archive according to Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis, a forensic archaeologist and Affiliated Researcher in the Scottish Centre for…
The Council of Europe Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property was adopted on 3 May 2017 and came into force on 19 May 2017 (Council of Europe Treaty Series no. 221). The Treaty is open for signature by the member States and the non-member States which have participated in its elaboration and for accession by other non-member…
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…
“Save Culture, end trafficking”. New infographic tells you all about UNESCO’s work in combating illicit trafficking. UNESCO Culture sector has published a new infographic, highlighting UNESCO’s work in fighting against illicit trafficking in cultural property. It explains basic concepts of trafficking and illustrates the global effort in implementing the UNESCO 1970 convention on the Means…
Asma Ibrahim, director of the Museum and Art Gallery Department, State Bank of Pakistan, gave a presentation on ‘Illicit Trade in Antiquities: The Tale of the Persian Mummy’ at the Aga Khan University this week. “The trafficking of culture goods is a growing problem,” Ibrahim said, citing numerous examples of thefts from museums, monuments, religious…
The origins of Italy’s Comando Carabinieri per la Tutela del Patrimonio Culturale go back to the late 1960ies. Since years it publishes a periodic bulletin that has proven to be a valuable tool towards raising awareness and working to combat illicit trafficking and the theft of works of art. The recent 38th bulletin includes descriptions and…
Finally, the Portable Antiquities of the Netherlands (PAN) is online. All started with a project of Prof. dr. N.G.A.M. Roymans, University of Amsterdam. PAN is similar to the English and Welsh PAS, the Danish DIME, and the Flemish MEDEA, and all are part of the North Sea Area Finds Recording Group, which registers archaeological artefacts. The…
EAA-Community on the Illicit Trade in Cultural Material 