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Illicitly traded cuneiform tablet seized by the US Department of Homeland Security HSI. Source: US Homeland Security Investigations/Antiquity Publications Ltd

Illicit Artifact Trading Falls From Top Three Dark Economies

For at least half a century it has been believed, and repeated, that the buying and selling of illegal artifacts was in the top three most illicit trades in the modern world. However, new research...
The British Museum. Source: Sammy / Adobe Stock.

The British Museum is Full of Stolen Artifacts (Video)

The British Museum , the world's largest world history museum, houses over 8 million cultural and historical artifacts from around the world. However, nearly half of the highlighted pieces face...
Detail from a Monopoly board. Source: Rich Brooks / CC BY 2.0

Monopoly Was Originally a Teaching Tool Exposing Economic Inequality

These days, Monopoly is a childhood staple, as kids worldwide learn to buy properties and then push friends into bankruptcy by charging exorbitant rent in order to emerge victorious. It’s the...
Ai Weiwei’s exhibition of animal bronze heads, entitled the Circle of Animals, are replicas of the famous looted zodiac heads and part of a contemporary commentary on the Communist Party and its nationalistic discourse. Source: Public domain

A Rabbit and a Rat Sparked a Serious China-France Showdown

In a bizarre twist of fate, a rabbit and a rat became the center of an international dispute between China and France in 2009. For these animals were part of a famed collection of Chinese bronze...
Replicas of the Golden Horns of Gallehus at the National Museum of Denmark. Source: Public domain

The Golden Horns of Gallehus: Stolen and Recovered Danish Heritage

The Golden Horns of Gallehus are a pair of richly decorated, 5th-century BC Germanic drinking horns that were discovered in Gallehus, a town in southern Denmark in 1639. The horns were made from...
Celtic gold coins stolen during museum heist in Germany from the Celtic Museum in Manching. Source: Alex / CC BY-SA 2.0

Disastrous German Museum Heist Scoops Gold Coins Worth Millions

In a museum heist that seems lifted straight from a movie screen, thieves made off with a collection of ancient Celtic gold coins from the Celtic and Roman Museum in the town of Manching in Bavaria...
Conceptual image of a large stone in the shape of a human brain.     Source: Orlando Florin Rosu / Adobe Stock

Searching for Genius: Einstein’s Stolen Brain

When you think of intelligent people, Albert Einstein may be the first name to come to mind. Known as one of history’s greatest geniuses, he fascinated the world with his many contributions to...
Goods with Celtic influence found in Przeworsk burial at Velyka Dibrova, Lviv region, Ukraine. Source: V. Sydorovych / Lviv Regional Council

Grave Robbers Return Przeworsk Culture Burial Goods in the Ukraine

An extraordinary incident has helped archaeologists in Ukraine gain fresh insights into how Celtic culture influenced development in the lands of their country more than 2,000 years ago. The event in...
A replica skull has been stolen from a haunted pub in York. Source: bint87 / Adobe Stock

A Skull Goes Skulking: Bizarre Theft from 518-year-old Haunted Pub

A haunted pub in England, that brands itself as being the “most haunted” in the city of York has suffered a most peculiar loss. The replica skull of a frequent visitor to the Golden Fleece, who was...
Left: Kim Kardashian. Right: The stolen Nedjemankh sarcophagus. Source: Left: Nicole Alexannder / CC BY 3.0. Right: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Kim Kardashian Unwittingly Helped Find Stolen Nedjemankh Sarcophagus

A ring of illegal antiquities dealers was exposed and their shocking relationship with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City revealed, thanks to an apparently innocent picture taken of a...
Medieval People Were Reopening Graves, But Not to Rob Them

Medieval People Were Reopening Graves, But Not to Rob Them

In the Middle Ages being dead wasn’t a guarantee you would rest in peace. Researchers have found hundreds of examples of people re-opening graves in cemeteries from Transylvania to southern England...
Queen Mary’s rosary beads were on display at Arundel Castle until until successfully stolen recently. Source: © Arundel Castle

Queen Mary's Beads, Worn to Her Beheading, Have Been Stolen!

Criminal gangs targeting historic sites in England have struck at Arundel Castle. The rosary beads worn by Mary Queen of Scots when she was being beheaded, have “vanished” in another brazen robbery...
British Metal Detectorist Reunites Stolen Ancient Treasure with Owner

British Metal Detectorist Reunites Stolen Ancient Treasure with Owner

A couple weeks ago Mr. Charles Cartwright, an amateur British metal detectorist, took his machine out for an inaugural search in a field in Doddenham, Worcestershire, England. He’d been out for about...
Portrait of Hernán Cortés. A stolen letter to Cortés has been tracked to a New York auction house.

Scholarly Sleuths Scuttle Shady Sale of Letter Sent to Hernán Cortés

In September 2020, a trio of scholars based in Mexico and Spain managed to stop the sale of a valuable historical document that had been stolen from the National Archives of Mexico (AGN), Mexico News...
The Curse of the Mijikenda Vigango Statues

The Curse of the Mijikenda Vigango Statues

During the 1980s, Coastal Kenya experienced the largest heist of ancestral artifacts in history. Over 300 wooden Vigango statues were taken from the sacred grounds of several Mijikenda tribes. These...
Crimes and Confessions of the Effigy Mound Superintendents

Crimes and Confessions of the Effigy Mound Superintendents

In the center of the United States, nestled within the dense red oak and black willow tree forests of northeastern Iowa, slumbers the Effigy Mounds National Monument. This area is designated by the...
Stolen Roman Marble Fragment Returned by Regretful Thief

Stolen Roman Marble Fragment Returned by Regretful Thief

Tourists from all over the world visit the Italian capital to see its remarkable Roman remains, such as the Colosseum. However, one tourist was so impressed with the ruins that she stole an ancient...
Colorado, Montezuma County, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. The Great Kiva at Lowry Pueblo. Source: Dominic / Adobe Stock

Canyons of the Ancients Artifacts Thief Goes to Jail

Canyons of the Ancients, in southwestern Colorado state, is the Holy Grail of American archaeology with the largest number of archaeological sites dating back over 10,000 years. This week, The...
English authorities have petitioned for the public’s help in stopping nighthawks from “robbing the past.” Source: emerald_media /Adobe Stock

Nighthawkers are Robbing England of its Past

Illegal treasure hunters are increasingly raiding ancient sites in England and authorities have petitioned for the public’s help in stopping these deplorable “nighthawkers robbing the past.”...
View into the Jewel Room of the historic Green Vault. Source: Hans Christian Krass / © Grünes Gewölbe, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

Billion-Dollar Jewelry Heist from Green Vault in Germany

Thieves have stolen a vast number of priceless jewels in Germany that were part of one of the most important art collections in Europe. Some have estimated that the stolen items may be valued at up...
Lost treasures. Source: dbrus / Adobe Stock.

10 Spectacular Treasures That Have Never Been Found

Nothing is ever so thrilling as the stories of lost treasures and the hidden riches of the world that are on the borders of the legendary. Sunken galleons, plundered gold, and thrilling museum heists...
St Finan’s Bell. Credit: Seakayaphoto.com

Ancient Scottish Church Bell Stolen from Sacred Island Leaving Locals Devastated

A sacred symbol of Scottish identity, a late medieval bell, has been stolen from a remote ruined chapel on an uninhabited Scottish isle which featured as the ‘Black Lake’ in the Harry Potter films...
The door to the crypt was broken into.

Disrespect for the Dead: Disturbing Theft of 21 Skulls from an English Church

The BBC is reporting a bizarre and grisly crime, that took place in Kent, England. Thieves have stolen some 21 human skulls from St Leonard's Church in Hythe, Kent. They were stored in a charnel...
Curare darts and quiver.

Ancient Amazonian Poison Vanishes Unsettling Dutch Police

Dutch police in the town of Leiden are on a manhunt for archaeological thieves who audaciously broke into an outbuilding of the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave. Looking for cash they raided the museum safe and...

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