Romanian authorities have recovered more pieces from a priceless ancient treasure that was looted between 1998 and 2001 from the archaeological site of Sarmisegetusa Regia (a UNESCO World Heritage site) in southwest Romania. The hoard is widely considered to be "the most important such find made on Romanian territory". Ernest Tarnoveanu, the head of the national history museum said at a press conference on Wednesday that a total of 232 artefacts, including a gold bracelet, two iron shields and gold and silver coins all dating from the 1st century BC, "were bought back from a German collector". It is known that there were 24 massive gold bracelets in the find, the 933-gram bracelet recovered this week is the 13th to have been recovered since 2005 (but 11 more are still missing).Elements of the hoard scattered on the illicit antiquities market have been recovered over the past few years from private collectors in America, Germany and Switzerland. Interpol and law enforcement authorities of Austria, Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Serbia, Switzerland and the United States have helped with the investigation.
Prosecutor Augustin Lazar said 28 Romanian metal detectorists and artefact hunters have so far been indicted for plundering Sarmisegetusa, thirteen of them received prison sentences of between seven and 12 years in December 2009. The trials of several others are still in progress.
AFP, 'Romania recovers priceless ancient treasure', – May 12, 2011
Romania recovers parts of ancient Dacian treasure May 12, 2011 at 8:50 am
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