ROME, ITALY—Hundreds of plundered artifacts have been handed over to Italian police by a Belgian collector, according to an AFP report. The artifacts date from between the sixth and the third century B.C. and are thought to have been illegally removed from sites in southeastern Italy. The objects came to light when a researcher at a state archaeology lab in Apulia noticed a funerary stela depicting a warrior on horseback carrying a shield in an art catalog. The shield was missing a fragment which turned out to be housed in a local museum in Apulia. The stela is known to have come from Apulia’s Daunia region. Vases painted with red figures, amphoras, black-glazed ceramics, and terracotta figurines were also recovered. To read more about the archaeology of southern Italy, in particular new insights into the world of ancient Pompeii, go to "Digging Deeper into Pompeii's Past."
