From Prehistory to Caliphate: the seized pieces from a professor in Cordoba
The 3rd Criminal Court of Córdoba sentenced a teacher from a public school in the Guadiato Valley to one year and nine months in prison for a continuous crime of receiving and trafficking archaeological pieces. The ruling establishes that the 2,338 pieces found in his home in 2020 will become part of the Archaeological Museum of Córdoba.
This is the largest seizure of archaeological remains in the province, as stated in the judicial resolution. The investigation began when the Civil Guard detected a profile online where the accused offered hundreds of pieces in batches. The trail led to his home, where valuable objects were found without being cataloged or having legal authorization, alongside a detector.
Pieces of great heritage value
The agents cataloged 51 batches ranging from Prehistory to the Islamic period. Among them were Hellenistic Greek coins, lithic tools from the Paleolithic and Chalcolithic periods, Celtic fibulae, oculated idols, and Roman gold earrings. They also found rose quartz beads that could be part of an Andalusian necklace from the 10th to 12th centuries.
Additionally, unique pieces such as a Caliphate pin and thimble, a Visigothic belt, a lead plaque with medieval Arabic writing, and Roman cosmetic utensils were discovered. The prosecutor emphasized the irreparable loss of historical information due to the illicit extraction with metal detectors.
The prosecution initially requested two and a half years in prison. Ultimately, the judge and prosecution accepted the mitigating circumstance of undue delays, reducing the sentence to 21 months, with suspension as the accused had no previous convictions. The ruling also includes the confiscation of all pieces and the detector used in the extractions.
