Italy stated Monday it experienced recovered from a Belgian collector hundreds of illegally gathered archeological finds dating as significantly back as the sixth century BC, worth 11 million euros.

The just about 800 items “of extraordinary rarity and inestimable benefit”, which include stelae, amphorae and other works, came from clandestine excavations in Apulia in Italy’s southeastern suggestion, according to the Carabinieri police in charge of cultural heritage.

The investigation started in 2017 following a condition archaeology lab in Apulia observed in European art catalogues that decorative elements from a Daunian funerary stele belonging to a “wealthy Belgian collector” resembled individuals identified inside a fragment in a southern Italian museum.

That flat stone slab from Daunia — a historic area of Apulia — in the selection of the Belgian collector was lacking a piece in its centre.

An formal inside of the restoration lab found that the piece in the museum’s assortment done the design of a defend and a warrior on horseback that was lacking on the stele.

“During the program of the search, a veritable ‘archaeological treasure’ was recovered, consisting of hundreds of Apulian figurative ceramic finds and other Daunian stelae, all illegally exported from Italy, which were then seized in Belgium,” study a assertion from law enforcement.

Italy was equipped to repatriate the performs immediately after all the lawful appeals of the collector were being dismissed, law enforcement mentioned.

In addition to stelae, the selection features vases painted with red figures, amphorae, black glazed ceramics, and various terracotta collectible figurines. The items day back again to concerning the sixth and 3rd generations BC.