The Italian government announced the seizure of an illegally excavated Etruscan burial site in central Umbria and was investigating two people suspected of stealing artefacts worth €8 million ($8.5 million) to be sold on the black market, according to AP News.
Illegal excavations were carried out next to another Etruscan burial site discovered by a farmer cultivating his land in 2015. The suspects used photographs of artefacts and the site that circulated on the black market.
With the help of a drone for aerial photography and phone tapping, they found a second site on land owned by a local businessman who had access to earthmoving equipment.
At the new site, they found two sarcophagi, presumably belonging to two Etruscan princesses, one of which still contained a skeleton inside, as well as a funerary dowry with urns, perfume bottles and a bone comb.
The Etruscan civilisation existed from about 900 BC to 27 BC in central Italy, including areas of present-day Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio.
