Arrests in Crete
The police in Crete seems to have had some success in retrieving stolen artefacts and arresting the culprits. Specifically, they arrested 8 men in Messara (Herakleion) last Thursday. They found among others a Roman vase, the upper part of a column, twenty coins from the fifth century BC to the Roman period, some weapons from the Second World War and copious quantities of modern drugs! The gang does not seem to very serious in its efforts of amassing ancient treasures. Nevertheless, I include a photo here, which does not seem to correlate with the stolen artefacts. Could not the Greek police take a couple of photos with their mobile phones to show them to ‘starving for news’ (and work) archaeologists?
For the news in Greek you may take a look at this site, where you will also find the photo of the wrong artefacts. http://www.protothema.gr/greece/article/?aid=232397
Unfortunately this lack of interst is present everywhere, when it comes to artefacts! And it’s not only the policemen’s fault, but I think the authors of the articles of this type have even less interest in giving the details that mean something to us, except of course for the specific publications! I’ve read tens of articles of this kind, written without any spark, just to fill-up a column…sad but true! Maybe you will enjoy just as I do this site: http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp; who happens to feature today exactly something about stolen artefacts! nice timing! Best thaughts, Ana