Spanish police recover one of largest illegal archaeological collections
WeirdNews
Artifacts were recovered from two houses in the southeastern province of Alicante.
SPAIN (Web Desk) - Spain s national police force has recovered "one of the largest illegal private collections in the province of Alicante," made up of hundreds of archaeological artifacts.
The collection includes marine fossils, Bronze Age ceramics and 18th-century weapons, the country s Guardia Civil said in a statement.
Artifacts were recovered from two houses in the southeastern province of Alicante.
Investigators recovered around 350 total artifacts from the two homes, including Roman mosaic tiles, paleolithic flint tools and historical weapons including cannonballs.
In addition, some of the more than 200 human bone fragments recovered are between 4,000 and 5,000 years old.
Two men have been arrested so far but not charged as part of the far-ranging Operation Osarium, police confirmed. Both are being investigated for misappropriation of goods with artistic, historical, cultural or scientific value.
The operation falls under the auspices of the Guardia Civil s "Plan for the Defense of Spanish Historical Heritage."
Investigators were originally tipped off in November by local law enforcement that a home in that jurisdiction contained various ancient bone remains.
"The pieces had supposedly been inherited by the current inhabitant of the house of a deceased relative. However, he did not possess any type of documentation that would justify his possession of them, nor had he carried out any procedure for their regularization," police said in a statement.
The Dénia Archaeological Museum is assisting investigators with housing the collection as well as attempting to date and otherwise identify the archaeological and paleontological pieces.
