Ancient artifact put up for sale on website selling second-hand items

ANTALYA

An architectural piece from ancient Rome has been put up for sale for 150 Turkish Liras (about $28) on an online platform selling second-hand items in the southern province of Antalya.

The piece is on the website labeled as “black and white wooden chest” regardless of the Latin texts on it.

“The Culture and Tourism Ministry should do what is necessary immediately and prevent the sale. There are legal loopholes in treasure hunting and people are spoilt by this,” said Soner Ateşoğulları, the head of the Turkish Archaeologists Association.

“Treasure hunting should be thwarted. Laws should be regulated and penalties for this should increase. We are for a mechanism that detects and follows illegal excavations,” he said.

Ateşoğulları added that museums attempt to detect and monitor illegal excavations but there is a lack of personnel.

“Recently we are seeing that [treasure hunting] has become much popular and we feel uneasy as the association. The media, as well, should not incentivize treasure hunting,” he stressed.