The Iraqi mdia are reporting that 'a Basra policeman found a "treasure" of antiquities that has been prepared to be smuggled out of Iraq'. Except he has not. The ones in the video that you can say something about are most likely fakes (0:06-8, 0:11-14 seconds, 1:05-11 glass and stone; 0:28-30 cast coins with filed edges) . The glass looks modern, the pots I cannot tell, but there is nothing much to say they are ancient dugups rather than modern replicas. I do not know what the ground-down bases are 1:45-48, any ideas? The problem is that pieces which were intended to scam no-questions-asking artefact collectors end up discrediting the over-eager preservationists wanting desperately to show a victory over the criminals.
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