Italy recovers artifacts dug up by amateurs

Italian authorities have recovered precious 3rd century B.C. artifacts from an Etruscan necropolis looted by a couple of bungling tomb raiders in Umbria who stumbled across the haul on their land.

The Etruscans flourished in central Italy around 2,500 years ago but were gradually assimilated into the Roman Empire. They left behind lavish tombs, pottery and statues but few written documents and patchy evidence of their daily lives.

The artifacts, including eight urns, two sarcophagi and beauty accessories such as bronze mirrors and a perfume bottle still redolent of its original scent, are worth at least 8 million euros (US$8.5 million), Carabinieri art police said.

They were found in Citta della Pieve, about 150 kilometers north of Rome.

One sarcophagus contained the full skeleton of a woman in her 40s, while the urns were finely decorated with scenes from Greek mythology and female figures with still-visible red paint on their lips and gold coloring on their jewels.

Police seized the loot from two entrepreneurs who had unearthed Etruscan burial chambers while excavating land they owned, Perugia chief prosecutor Raffaele Cantone told a press conference last week.

They “had nothing to do with the world of practiced tomb raiders” and were “clumsy” and “amateurish” in the way they tried to access the black market for looted art, the prosecutor said.

The Carabinieri caught up with them after they posted pictures of their discovery on the internet in the hope of finding buyers, triggering investigations that included phone wiretaps, stakeouts and air surveillance drones.

Police finally swooped on the suspects after one of them posted on Facebook a picture of himself with a looted artifact, Cantone said.

The pair face charges related to theft and trading in stolen goods, and risk jail sentences of up to 10 years.

(SD-Agencies)

意大利追回珍宝 盗墓贼手法“业余”

意大利翁布里亚的几个笨拙的业余盗墓者在自家土地上偶然发现了伊特鲁里亚人的墓地，发掘了一批公元前3世纪的珍贵文物，现在他们被警察抓住了。

大约 2500 年前，伊特鲁里亚人在意大利中部繁衍生息，但逐渐被罗马帝国同化。他们留下了奢华的墓葬、陶器和雕像，但鲜有文字记载，关于他们日常生活的证据也很零散。

意大利艺术警察说，这些文物至少价值800万欧元（约合850万美元），包括八个骨灰瓮、两个石棺和女性用品，例如铜镜和一个仍然散发着香味的香水瓶。

这些文物是在罗马以北约150公里的皮耶韦城发现的。

其中一个石棺里有一具40来岁妇女的完整骸骨，骨灰瓮上则装饰着精美的希腊神话场景和女性形象，她们嘴唇上的红色颜料和珠宝上的金色颜料依然清晰可见。

佩鲁贾市首席检察官拉斐尔•坎托内上周在新闻发布会上说，警方从两名盗墓贼手中缴获了这些赃物，他们在挖掘自家土地时发现了伊特鲁里亚人的墓室。

检察官说，他们“与盗墓网络毫无关系”，试图在被盗艺术品黑市销赃的方式“笨拙”且“业余”。

他们将文物的照片发布到互联网上希望找到买家，然后警察就发现了他们，于是使用了电话窃听、监视和无人机空中侦察在内的手段展开调查。

坎托内说，其中一人在Facebook上发布了一张和被盗文物的自拍后，警方最终锁定了嫌疑人。

这两人面临着盗窃和销赃的相关指控，或被判处长达 10 年的监禁。(Translated by Debra)