US Cultural Property Looted, Melted Down

US collectors of looted and smuggled portable antiquities often stress that these items are being "preserved" by being held in US collections, where they are allegedly "safer" than if they had been left in the ground among the brown-skinned folk whose heritage they are. Meanwhile, in the USA, a federal judge has sentenced the mastermind of a sprawling, multi-state museum theft ring to ten years in prison, bringing a dramatic chapter of cultural destruction to a close. The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, alongside state and local law enforcement agencies across Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, North Dakota, and beyond (' Mastermind of multi-state museum theft ring sentenced to 10 years for melting down sports history' River Reporter, February 21, 2026 ).

On February 10, 2026, Senior U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion handed down a 120-month sentence to Nicholas Dombek, 55, of Thornhurst Township, Pennsylvania. The sentencing followed a nearly month-long trial in 2025 that ended with a jury convicting Dombek on multiple felony counts, including conspiracy, theft of major artwork, concealment and disposal of major artwork, and interstate transportation of stolen property.

According to U.S. Attorney Brian D. Miller, Dombek led an eight-person conspiracy responsible for a string of thefts stretching across at least five states. The targets were not random. The group focused on museums, halls of fame, historic estates, specialty galleries, and local businesses—institutions dedicated to preserving fine art, sports heritage, antique firearms, rare minerals, and other culturally significant artefacts.

In total, the ring stole or disposed of dozens of historically important objects over more than a decade. The financial damage alone exceeded $2.7 million in restitution, but the cultural loss was far greater. Many of the stolen works were irreplaceable pieces of American artistic, cultural and athletic history.

What makes the case especially disturbing is not just the theft, but what happened afterward. Rather than reselling the items intact on the collectors’ market, the conspirators frequently destroyed them. After transporting the stolen artifacts back to northeastern Pennsylvania (often to Dombek’s residence), they melted down metal objects into crude discs or bars. These were then sold as raw material to fences in the New York City area for a fraction of their historical and market value.

In at least one case, a valuable painting was deliberately burned to prevent investigators from recovering it as evidence. Many other objects remain missing.

The conspiracy began to unravel after law enforcement executed a search warrant at Dombek’s home in 2019. Prosecutors later revealed that he attempted to intimidate co-conspirators to prevent cooperation with authorities. In 2023, after being indicted, he fled when federal agents tried to arrest him and remained a fugitive for nearly six months before surrendering on New Year’s Day 2024.
Several co-defendants were also convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from probation to eight years. Others pleaded guilty earlier in 2025. Nobody is believed to have been shot in the investigations.

In a statement, Wayne A. Jacobs of FBI Philadelphia emphasized the complexity of art crime investigations, noting that such cases often cross jurisdictions and unfold over many years.

Are Archaeologists Talking About Looting?

Naomi Oosterman and Cara Grace Tremain, 'Are Archaeologists Talking About Looting? Reviewing Archaeological and Anthropological Conference Proceedings from 1899–2019' International Journal of Cultural Property Volume 30 Issue 4, 14 May 2024

Abstract
The impetus for this study was a review of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) 86th Annual Meeting program in 2021. Finding that no single poster or presentation referenced looting or antiquities trafficking despite these issues being ethical considerations that all SAA members are expected to recognize, we sought to investigate whether this was an irregularity – perhaps due to the virtual format of the meeting – or whether it was more common than not. For a broader understanding of if, how, and where these topics are discussed by archaeologists outside of the SAA, we expanded the investigation and studied the archives of 14 other archaeological and anthropological conferences. The results of the study show that despite there being an overall increase in mentioning looting and antiquities trafficking at conferences, it remains a niche and infrequently discussed topic.

Ukraine: Fifth Century Disc Brooch Seized by Police

 

                                 State Prosecutor                                 

Prosecutors in Lviv Oblast have brought a case to court concerning the attempted sale of a 5th-century archaeological object of considerable significance: a silver fibula brooch with a gilded surface (Намагався продати фібулу-брошку V ст.: судитимуть мешканця Борислава 17.11.2025). The announcement, published on the website of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, outlines yet another instance in which an important early medieval find was diverted toward the antiquities market rather than reported through proper heritage channels.

According to investigators, the object was discovered in March 2025 by a 45-year-old local resident near Boryslav, not far from the Tysmenytsia River. The artefact has been identified as a silver fibula dating to the second half of the 5th century. Under Ukrainian law, such a find is classified as treasure and is considered state property due to its special historical, scientific, artistic, and cultural value. Fibulae of this period are not merely decorative items; they are key chronological and cultural markers, often associated with elite dress and identity in the turbulent centuries that followed the decline of Roman authority in the region.

Rather than notifying the relevant cultural heritage authorities, the man allegedly offered the brooch for sale through an online auction platform. As in similar cases, the act of commercialization without reporting the find forms the basis of the criminal charge. He is accused under Part 1 of Article 193 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which addresses the illegal appropriation of discovered treasure possessing particular historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural significance.

The brooch has since been seized and transferred for safekeeping to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, where it will be preserved and studied in a proper institutional context. The case has now been referred to court, and proceedings are ongoing in accordance with Ukrainian law.

The case underscores a familiar problem: even a single object, when removed from its archaeological context and placed on the market, represents not only a legal violation but also the loss of irreplaceable contextual information. The recovery of the fibula ensures its preservation, but the circumstances of its discovery—unrecorded and undocumented—inevitably leave gaps in the historical record that no subsequent legal action can fully repair.

To be honest though, I am a bit puzzled by this find, the titchy photo does not help. It is a small disc brooch ('button brooch'?) with a circumferentially-grooved rim and what looks like tow opposed pairs ofr relief spirals, a four-spiral disc brooch? It looks very similar to Anglo-Saxon ones that have five or six spirals generally, there are some merovingian ones... and....? I cannot really place it among the other stuff from eastern Europe in general. Is it an import? An 'out of place' artefact (displaced by the antiquities market or misreported findspot)? or a fake? What is it? Anybody?

Evacuating Ukraine's Ancient Stone Guardians

According to the Facebook page of the 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade (18/2/2026), soldiers of the Sicheslav Brigade, together with museum workers, volunteers, and philanthropists, evacuated from Vasylivka in the Synelnykivskyi District of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast the Polovtsian Babas of the XI–XIII centuries – unique stone monuments of the steppe era.

Previously, as reported by the online media Suspilne, Ukrainian paratroopers and historians had also evacuated two ancient Polovtsian statues from Petropavlivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, to the same museum to protect them from war damage (Ukrainian Paratroopers Evacuate Ancient Polovtsian Statues from Petropavlivka Mezha, 13 November 2025)

soldiers of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade, together with historians, evacuated two Polovtsian baba statues as the front line approached: the distance from the settlement to the combat zone exceeded 45 kilometers.
Two statues were saved thanks to the efforts of volunteers and specialists. The artifacts were found on the community’s territory, previously stored under a concrete layer. Nina Sergienko noted that this is not a common practice for artifacts, but in this case such a step helped preserve them from destruction. [...] To move the sculptures to Dnipro, heavy machinery was employed – a truck and a crane. A representative of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade, Valeriy Kasianenko, said that the soldiers had a clear view of how the Russian army was destroying historical monuments amid active hostilities, so they decided to help with the evacuation.
“We understand that Russia is waging war against Ukraine on different levels, including at the level of history. For us it is important to preserve the heritage of our nation and not let the Russians destroy, damage, or take it for themselves”.
The statues were delivered to the museum in Dnipro. According to the representative, the evacuation lasted almost seven hours, and the transport covered more than 120 kilometers. After the work is completed, the exhibits are planned to be kept at the Dnipro Historical Museum named after Dmytro Yavornytsky. Yuriy Fanihin, Deputy Director for Records and Preservation of Museum Valuables, said that since the start of the large-scale invasion, 27 stone statues have been evacuated. [...] The museum owner added that until the end of the war these exhibits will remain in the museum’s courtyard, after which they will be returned to Petropavlivka."

Polovtsian stone stelae, popularly known as "babas" (from the Turkic word baba, meaning "ancestor"), are unique anthropomorphic monuments created by nomadic Turkic peoples between the 9th and 13th centuries. These statues, carved from sandstone or limestone, were typically placed atop kurgans (burial mounds) as memorial markers to honor the deceased and serve as ritual sites for ancestor worship. Though they represent both male and female figures with intricate details of clothing and weaponry, their primary function was to act as spiritual guardians of the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Today, they remain vital archaeological evidence of the medieval nomadic cultures that once dominated the vast plains of modern-day Ukraine and southern Russia.

My problem with this is that this is treated as a portable antiquities issue (by portableising the "art"). The baba however sits in a site in the context of other things deposited or present at that site - such as a burial, or ephemeral traces of offerings and commemorative rituals at various times. By digging them out roughly and loading them on a truck, any traces areound the base of the stone will have been losgt, the whole site disrupted. "Puttiung it back" is not going to undo that destruction of evidence.

More Accusations of Finds Going Missing When in Hands of the PAS

If reports coming in are true, things look pretty rotten in UK archaeology. Coming soon after the scandal where finds went missing from a museum storeroom while the PAS was processing some potential Treasure cases (which we're not supposed to talk about because again no charges were ever pressed - shhhhhh) we are told of yet another case. Artefact hunter "Stu" left a comment on my post 'More UK Detectorists Reporting Objects Missing When Curated by Portable Antiquities Scheme' (PACHI ):

I've just had some pieces returned. Lithics. There was a beautiful scraper in amongst them with gorgeous fossil inclusions. It's been taken and replaced with a broken shard of flint that i did not recover. It was not present when they were handed over. Someone has cherry picked the piece and switched it out with a piece that i definitely did not find. I know because everything was photographed before it was submitted. I won't be handing anything else in to Lancashire PAS in the future.

PAS has been approached for comment, but at the time of writing, no response has been received.
It is hard to say quite what the truth is here, whether the find was somehow nicked or mislaid, or simply bundled up with somebody else's finds and they ended up keeping it. The thing is there is clearly a need for PAS to look at its procedures. Will they? How many times does this in fact happen in a year? Where and how?

So, What IS Going on in the British Museum?

William Dalrymple @DalrympleWill (16/2/2026)

"I've just been chatting with Nick Cullinan, the excellent new director of the British Museum, and I'm very relieved to say that the story put by the Daily Telegraph about the BM cancelling the name Palestine is a complete misrepresentation of the facts:
"To reassure you we are not removing mention from Palestine from our labels," Nick told me. "Indeed, we have a display on at the moment about Palestine and Gaza.
"I know this is something our curators have thought long and hard about - as you can imagine. We amended two panels in our ancient Levant gallery last year during a regular gallery refresh, when some wording was amended to reflect historical terms.
"To be honest, the even more frustrating and concerning thing is that I knew nothing about this until yesterday and has only been explained to me this morning. I hadn’t even seen that [UK Lawyers for Israel] letter despite asking for it until this morning. I’m disgusted by the whole thing."
The question remains why the Daily Telegraph would put out such a mischief-making story without first fact checking it with the Directors office."

But it's not the Telegraph is it? The story appears to have originated with UK Lawyers for Israel 'British Museum Reviewing Palestine Terminology in Galleries after Audience Testing', February 14, 2026

"The British Museum has confirmed that it is reviewing and updating some gallery panels and labels after “Audience testing has shown that the historic use of the term Palestine … is in some circumstances no longer meaningful.” [...] In a letter to the British Museum, UKLFI explained ...[...].
UKLFI argued that ...[...]
UKLFI requested that the Museum review its collections and revise terminology ...[...]
Responding to the concerns, the British Museum’s spokesperson [unnamed] confirmed that the Museum was in the processes of reviewing and updating panels and labels on a case-by-case basis" [....] A UKLFI spokesperson said: “We welcome the British Museum’s willingness to review and amend terminology.

So, surely some misunderstanding. You'd think lawyers would make sure they are speaking to a spokesperson who knows what's what.

Palestine for the Palestinians.

UK Treasure Hunting, Bottle-Digging History Prof Flogs off Protohistoric Hoard

                      .                     

A professor of medieval history, Tom Licence of the University of East Anglia, while out artefact hunting near Bury St Edmunds, suffolk with a metal detector, dug blindly down into the archaeological record and uncovered a hoard of 18 Iron Age gold coins  ( Rachael McMenemy, 'History professor finds huge Iron Age hoard' BBC 14.02.2026). The coins date to the reign of Dubnovellaunos, ruler of the Trinovantes tribe between 25 BC and AD 10. Now he and the landowner are flogging off this archaeological material, marketed as 'the Bury St Edmunds Hoard', and the find is expected to brinmg them in £25,000 at auction through Noonans. He first uncovered 17 full gold Iron Age coins and one quarter‑coin in autumn 2024, followed by one more full coin when he returned a few months later – bringing the total to 18. The hoard will be sold at auction by Noonans in London on Wednesday 4 March

PAS record ID: SF-03C894. Nota bene., the record was made in Feb 2025 and contains 17, not the 18 coins. The PAS record is a bit of a mess.

Interestingly, although mention is made in the University's report of the discovery of finding some "pieces of Viking hack silver" in the field on the day of the find of the first coins, the PAS does not seem to have a record of this, what is going on?

What is striking—and frankly disheartening—is not simply that this hoard was removed from its burial context and situational associtions (which was...?) in such a disruptive manner, but that it was done by someone (who bloody well should be) fully aware of the importance of historical context. In the case of this find, and all the others this guy has been hoiking out of the ground as he fancies, they have lost most of their context, apart from the contexts he grabbed these trophy collectable from having lost part of their content. Archaeology is not treasure hunting, the true value of such a hoard lies not in the gold content or auction estimate, but in its precise location, stratigraphy, and association with surrounding material evidence. Once objects are extracted without controlled excavation, irreplaceable contextual data is lost forever. The coins might have contributed to a deeper understanding of ritual deposition practices in late pre-Roman Britain, or the site where they were found. Yet instead of being investigated through a systematic archaeological dig, the site became a metal-detecting success story.

Even more uncomfortable is the romantic language used to frame the discovery. The suggestion that the coins might have belonged to one of his “ancestors” personalizes and sentimentalizes what should be treated as shared cultural heritage. This is not a family heirloom rediscovered in an attic; it is part of the collective archaeological record of Iron Age Britain.

Although the find was reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme and some funds may be donated to a public collection, this does not undo the damage done by removing the hoard outside a controlled research framework. Recording an object after extraction is not the same as documenting its full archaeological context before disturbance.

It is genuinely sad to see a history professor participating in (and publicly celebrating) activities that contribute to the erosion of archaeological evidence and thus the historical record in general. Scholars, above all, should understand that context is everything. These are the people that should be opinion-makers/informers. This one's got it all wrong.

Professor Tom Licence is shown on his university's website to be a Professor of Medieval History and Literature, School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing Member, specialist in the Norman Conquest, the cult of the saints, ecclesiastical history and Latin literature (10th-12th centuries). He's written over thirty books, research papers and other texts, including one on dump-digging (2017) [incongruously refereing to Victorian dumps as a 'resource' but seemingly unconcerned about the hobby that is digging them up for profit and pleasure destroying that resource, making then unavailable for future research]. He also wrote a book: "What the Victorians Threw Away". Licence is also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, because, of course he is.

The University of East Anglia's very proud of what he's done: "History professor strikes gold with remarkable Iron Age discovery" by: University of East Anglia Communications Thursday 12 February 2026.