ROME — A farmer working his land south of Rome dug up hundreds of artifacts from a 2,600-year-old sanctuary, but ran afoul of police when he tried to sell the ancient hoard, officials said Wednesday.
After spotting fragments of pottery in soil dug up by the farmer, authorities searched his home last month and seized more than 500 artifacts, including perfume vials, cups and miniature vases used as votive objects.
The art squad of the Carabinieri paramilitary police said the farmer was placed under investigation for allegedly trafficking in antiquities. Ancient artifacts found in Italy are considered state property, and finds must be reported to authorities.
Archaeologists said they will continue to excavate the sanctuary, which dates back to the 7th-6th century B.C. and is outside the town of Aprilia, near a small lake about 25 miles south of Rome.
The find could expand knowledge about the area’s history in pre-Roman times, when it was inhabited by Latin-speaking people under the influence of the Etruscan civilization that dominated central Italy, experts said.
The pottery, some of which was imported from Greece, was offered to a deity probably connected to the lake, said Stefano De Caro, director of archaeology at the Italian Culture Ministry.
“These were poor people, they gave thanks for a good harvest or they prayed that there wouldn’t be a drought,” De Caro said. “At the time there were no aqueducts, so the lake meant life.”
He speculated the treasure of tiny, delicate ceramics could have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on the illegal antiquities market.
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