Missing antiquities

The 1990s was a difficult period for Albania, manifested at Butrint by the looting of the old Butrint museum. In 1991 many important items of sculpture recovered by the Italian excavation campaigns in Butrint and Phoenicê were stolen and exported. Much of this looting went unnoticed by international agencies, but the Institute of Archaeology in Tirana responded by transporting many of the most important items remaining to Tirana for safe keeping.

Renewed looting in 1997 was more chaotic and objects from storerooms were only moved a short distance and hidden for later transportation. Some of these have been retrieved from the fields and ditches where they were initially hidden, but numerous small objects (coins, brooches etc.) are unlikely to be recovered.

An online catalogue documenting missing antiquities from Albania has been developed in order to publicise and facilitate their recovery. There is a large and growing international market for antiquities; unfortunately, the demand for antiquities far outstrips the supply of legally traded objects. As a result, looters target archaeological sites and monuments; graves are opened in the search for jewellery or valuable pottery, monuments are disfigured by the removal of saleable pieces of sculpture, and museums are burgled.

The theft of antiquities from archaeological sites is particularly problematic: it deprives a nation of its heritage and identity, and prevents an understanding of these objects in their true historical context.

Thankfully, recently several pieces have been recovered and are again on display in the new Butrint Museum. The portrait head of the empress Livia was recovered in 2000 after having been purchased by a New York art dealer and offered for resale at auction with several other unprovenanced objects. Five sculptures looted from Butrint were identified by Greek authorities and seized from criminal gangs. Three of these were returned to Albania in 2003; the remaining two are still being held as evidence in the criminal trials – it is hoped that they will be returned to Albania in the near future. In 2006, the head of Asclepius stolen in 1991 was identified as being in a private collection in Italy. Negotiations are ongoing for its return to Albania

For the catalogue of missing antiquities from Albania, see http://www.icaa.org.al/missingantiquities/index.html.

 

• The Butrint Museum
• A Mediterranean microcosm
• The history of the museum
• QTVR of Butrint Museum
• QTVR of sculpture courtyard
• Missing antiquities