Ancient artefacts worth at least €8m (£6.7m) have been recovered after being stolen by “tomb raiders” who accidentally found them on their land in Italy.
The pieces included eight urns, sarcophagi and beauty accessories such as a bronze mirror and a perfume bottle which still smelled of its scent.
They were taken from an Etruscan necropolis in Citta della Pieve, about 90 miles (150km) north of Rome.
The urns were painted with scenes from Greek mythology and one sarcophagus held the full skeleton of a woman in her forties.
Police recovered the artefacts from two entrepreneurs who found the burial chambers while excavating their land, said Perugia chief prosecutor Raffaele Cantone.
He said they “had nothing to do with the world of (practised) tomb raiders” but were “clumsy” and “amateurish” in the way they tried to access the black market.
They were put under investigation when they posted pictures of the loot online to try to find buyers.
Italy’s minister of culture next to one of the recovered pieces. Pic: Reuters
Pic: AP
Authorities started bugging the suspects’ phones, conducting stakeouts and using drones to keep tabs on them.
Police eventually swooped when one of them put a picture on Facebook showing himself with one of the pieces, said Mr Cantone.
The pair face charges of theft and trading in stolen goods and could be jailed for up to 10 years if convicted.
In 2015, another Etruscan tomb was found by a farmer in Citta della Pieve – however, it was reported and they got a reward of about €100,000 (£83,000).
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The Etruscans were wealthy and left behind lavish tombs but few written documents.
They originated in Tuscany during the Bronze Age but gradually declined over the course of hundreds of years and the last of their cities were assimilated into the Roman Empire around 100BC.