Unidentified persons have recently started posting videos performing archaeological excavations, finding coins and other valuable objects. Equipped with metal detectors in hand, “treasure hunters” as they are most called, advertise some of the objects they have found and how they can be searched, on social networks. However, such excavations are against the law.
“They are thieves, we can call them that. It is not allowed to do such archaeological excavations, unless you obtain a license to do so in your own 20th century home,” says archaeologist Skënder Muçaj to Euronews Albania.
Publications made over the years regarding archaeological units have helped these treasure hunters find even hidden spots and excavate them. In other cases, they are also helped by local residents in the respective areas.
“Some of them are equipped with detectors. Not even us who work in this sector use such equipment. Usually in graves of the prehistoric period or the bronze age, there are metallic objects, besides vases. They identify these graves, dig them and find such objects,” explains Muçaj.
Old coins or other valuable objects these treasure hunters excavate are part of the cultural heritage of the country. A part of them ends up being sold in black markets outside of the country and is not even registered.
Trafficking of works of art is prohibited by law and whoever imports, exports and trades these works for the purpose of material gain, can be sentenced up to ten years in prison. If the act is committed in collaboration, more than once or has severe consequences, offenders face up to fifteen years in prison.
