Authorities in Spain recovered remains and hundreds of archaeological artifacts dating back up to 5,000 years, including marine fossils, Bronze Age pottery (circa 3300 BC to 1200 BC) and 18th-century weapons. Alicante, in the southeast of the country.
The seizures were made in the so-called Osarium operation, which led the police to “one of the largest illegal private collections” in Spain, according to a statement released by the Civil Guard. Two people are investigated for the crime of misappropriating objects with artistic, cultural or scientific value.
The investigation began in November, when authorities were informed of the existence of human remains inside a house in the village of Gata de Gorgos — more than 200 fragments of human bones were found.
Afterwards, the owner of the residence, in collaboration with the authorities, led investigators to an even larger collection on another property in the neighboring town of Dénia. There, archaeological items were found that would have been inherited from a former resident, now deceased.
“Nonetheless, [o morador] did not have any type of documentation justifying the possession of the items, nor did it carry out any procedure for their regularization”, the guard said in a statement.
Some 350 artifacts including Roman mosaics and historic tools and weaponry, including cannonballs and iron grenades, were recovered. Investigators also seized notebooks with handwritten notes from the former resident, pointing out the location of the items.
Studies will be carried out to establish the date and origin of the pieces, which may facilitate the location of new archaeological sites, according to the statement from the Civil Guard, which worked together with the technical inspection team of the Ministry of Culture and specialists from the Museum. Archaeological of Dénia.
The discovery comes a year after 36 pieces, also recovered by the Spanish Civil Guard, were returned to Egypt. The objects, which included figurines depicting gods and ancient vases, were seized in the port of Valencia after being stolen from archaeological sites in 2014, according to Reuters news agency.
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