Two men in Citta della Pieve, Italy were excavating their land when they found an incredible array of 3rd century BCE artifacts including eight urns, bronze mirrors, a perfume bottle, and two stunning sarcophagi—one of which contained a complete skeleton. See video below. (In Italy, antiquities found on private land belong to the state not the land owners.)
The men posted photos of their haul on social media in the hopes of finding buyers of what was later estimated to be $8.5 billion worth of artifacts.
That caught the attention of Italian police who initiated wiretaps and drone surveillance.
From CNN:
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.
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, said prosecutor Annamaria Greco, who led the investigation.
Previously:
• Archaeological site discovered where new archaeology lab is under construction
• Society for American Archaeology asks Netflix to reclassify Ancient Apocalypse as 'science fiction'
