World News | Trove of Artifacts Recovered from Black Market Goes on Display in Naples
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Hundreds of once-missing artifacts, hunted down over decades by a special police unit, have been unveiled for the first time in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, in southern Italy.
Naples (Italy), Apr 12 (AP) Hundreds of once-missing artifacts, hunted down over decades by a special police unit, have been unveiled for the first time in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, in southern Italy.
In its vaults, the museum preserves 15,000 artifacts seized or confiscated from the black market over the years by a police unit focused on the protection of cultural heritage.
It is the loot of raiders who for decades have targeted sites from classical antiquity in southern Italy, such as Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Some even used underwater metal detectors, GPS, sonar and drones to extract treasures from the shipwrecks and archaeological sites submerged in the Mediterranean Sea.
From its repository, the museum selected 600 pieces to display for visitors. Among them is a statue that had been in an apartment building's courtyard since the early 20th century until its theft in the 1980s, and which was found in 2009.
There are artifacts from Pompeii that a French archaeologist bought from a local farmer in the 1990s for 50,000 lire (about USD 28 today). There are also ancient ceramics, coins, bronzes, marbles, pottery, furnishings, weapons and armour dating from the Archaic Period (approximately 650 to 480 BC) to the Middle Ages.
“It is a beautiful exhibition that tells a beautiful story, a story also of redemption for our stolen archaeological artifacts, which often find their way into private property or even international museums," Massimo Osanna, the head of national museums at Italy's culture ministry, who helped curate the exhibition, said in an interview.
"Thanks to the work of the public prosecutor's office and the police, together with the ministry, (these artifacts) are finally coming home and to light.”
In 2023, the latest year for which there are complete records, the police unit recovered over 100,000 artifacts which it estimates are worth a total 264 million euros (USD 299 million). (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)