Italy recovers Etruscan artifacts worth $8.5 million bound for black market

ROME (AP) — Italian authorities have announced the seizure of an illegal excavation of an Etruscan burial site in the central Umbria region. They are investigating two people suspected of the theft of urns, sarcophagi and other artifacts worth 8 million euros or $8.5 million intended for sale on the black market. Authorities said Tuesday that the illegal dig was adjacent to another Etruscan burial site discovered by a farmer tilling his land in 2015. Authorities were tipped off by photographs of artifacts and the site that were circulating on the black market that resembled objects found on the farmer’s land.