Italians Legalise Illegal Antiquities

A few days ago I received a desperate message from a friend who also happens to be an Italian Archaeologist working in Greece. According to the message, next week the Italian Parliament will approve of a law that will legalise the illegal ownership of antiquities. Effectively, if a pot or statue or coin has been found in the course of an illegal excavation and then sold to the market, the owner of the object will not face any legal consequences.

On the other hand, it is obvious that the law will have dire consequences for antiquities in Greece or Turkey or Egypt or other such countries. The criminals who took part in illegal excavations, effectively, would become able to sell the ancient objects with the help of their Italian ‘colleagues’. Since, because of the stylistic similarities, they could claim that the antiquities came from Southern Italy (otherwise called Magna Grecia).

Please consult the relevant facebook page on the subject here http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=131488480219070&ref=ts

Unfortunately, there is no English translation.

2 Comments

1. 

   Astrid D'Eredità July 10, 2010, 2:42 pm Reply

   You can now find english translation here:

   http://www.archeologi.org/web/news.asp?id=609

   Thanks for support

2. Pingback: Antiguidades Ilegais « Antiguidades Romanas