CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA—ANSA reports that a bell-shaped, two-handled vessel dated to between 340 and 325 B.C. and seized in Sydney in 2020 has been handed over to Nicola Lener, the Italian ambassador to Australia. The krater, which is thought to have been unearthed in the Puglia region of southern Italy, had been shipped from the United States and was bound for New Zealand when it was intercepted. Through a process of international police cooperation, it was determined by Australian authorities and Italy’s Ministry of Culture and the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage that the object had not been recovered by an authorized excavation, nor had it left Italy legally. It is the first time that Australia has repatriated an artifact to Italy. To read about research into the quantity of wine that would have been mixed with water in a krater during an ancient Greek drinking party, go to "Alcohol Through the Ages: Socializing at the Symposium."
