Just a few weeks ago, Civil Guard agents were surprised to find an unusual discovery inside a suitcase that a German pensioner had just passed through control at Palma airport. When inspecting the luggage, the officers were astonished to discover that inside there was a huge amount of coins of Roman origin about to be illegally extracted from the country. The discovery immediately led the Nature Protection Service (Seprona), dependent on the Armed Institute, to the home that the woman owns in the Balearic capital: more than 1,400 looted lamps, amphorae, jewelry, vessels, figures and swords surfaced. the eyes of the researchers, for whom the pieces have incalculable value.
The Fiscal and Border Service agents immediately seized the coins that the woman intended to take to her country and, immediately afterwards, Seprona, competent in the investigation of crimes against property, began its investigations. From this unit they warn, however, that it is not the only case of these characteristics registered in recent months in Mallorca, mainly in sites of old settlements, hoe and metal detector in hand. “It is something quite worrying, especially for archaeologists, who see several years of their research work pulverized,” says Seprona sergeant Pedro Mora, in statements to elDiario.es.
Not only that. The Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage of 2001 of UNESCO prohibits the pillage and exploitation of this type of materials and urges citizens to protect the objects and remains found under the sea with the aim of preserving them for the benefit of future generations. He Balearic Institute of Maritime Archeology Studies (IBEAM) has, in fact, a tool, SOS Patrimonithrough which the population can report any type of discovery that has occurred underwater. Specifically, the Balearic Islands have more than 1,500 archaeological sites in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza. For the benefit of future generations, numerous underwater specialists are dedicated to exploring the seabed in search of remains that will allow us to unravel the past of the islands, which for centuries were the center of the main commercial routes that crossed the Mediterranean, especially from the Roman era.
“Even though they are coins, they are historical heritage”
In the case of the German retiree, after the objects were found, she was finally given permission to return to Germany, but the agents contacted her daughter, with whom she resides on the island. The woman acknowledged that the Roman coins belonged to her father and that her mother wanted to travel to the German country to appraise them, alleging ignorance of current legislation regarding the protection of this type of elements. “Even though they are coins, they continue to belong to the Spanish historical heritage,” says Mora, who points out that what they were interested in knowing was their origin and, above all, if they had been looted. In her statement before the Civil Guard, the daughter said that her father was fond of going to both terrestrial and underwater sites to collect all types of objects, and that she accompanied him.
The daughter of the German woman recognizes that the Roman coins are her father’s and that her mother wanted to travel to the German country to value them. She also said that her father was fond of going to both terrestrial and underwater sites to collect all kinds of objects, and that she accompanied him
Given the woman’s confession, the agents asked her to voluntarily enter her home. Once inside, the troops found a multitude of coins, amphoras, ointments, lamps, vessels, jewelry, figures and swords whose value, in the absence of a definitive report, the Armed Institute estimates incalculable. To investigate its origin and safeguard the countless objects found, the agents contacted the Heritage area of the Consell de Mallorca, whose archaeologists are currently focused on finding out the origin of this heritage. Depending on the precise characteristics of each element, specialists will be able to clarify whether it belongs to sites in Mallorca and even other parts of Spain.
“The man managed to amalgamate objects from different times and places, and the interest lies in knowing exactly what places he could loot them from,” says the sergeant. In the case of the swords, for example, he explains that they are “very well preserved” and one of the hypotheses they use is that they could have been extracted from a tomb. “We still don’t know for sure, I hope we can get to the end,” he emphasizes.
Alleged crime against property
The retiree also kept several notebooks in which each of the objects that her husband had taken possession of was written down. His daughter, for her part, is being investigated for an alleged crime against property after having admitted that on several occasions she accompanied her father diving and took some old nails that they found underwater. The woman has collaborated in the investigations by giving a statement voluntarily, as well as allowing the civil guards to access her home without requiring judicial authorization.
The mother “supposedly only took the coins and claimed ignorance,” says Mora, which is why she was finally able to travel to Germany once the coins were seized. However, remember that ignorance “does not exempt from compliance with the law”, which is why it appeals to wait for the development of the investigations when they are prosecuted.
A case similar to this took place in Formentera in 2019, when a fleet of trawler fishermen was intercepted with an abundant quantity of amphorae that they had seized with their equipment. “Instead of handing them over to the Insular Council, which was appropriate, they kept them and we suspect that some had even gone so far as to offer them and sell them on the Internet, something that is totally prohibited,” clarifies the sergeant. In total, about 100 Roman and Phoenician amphorae were seized from them.
Looting in the largest Islamic site in the Balearic Islands
Last October, archaeologists investigating the Almallutx archaeological site, located in the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana and considered the last Muslim refuge in Mallorca after the Christian conquest of the island, reported the looting of practically complete bones and skeletons from several tombs. , as well as other objects looted using metal detectors. With an area of more than 160,000 square meters, the settlement is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and, currently, is the best preserved Islamic site in the Balearic Islands.
In the archipelago, the regulations that regulate the protection of archaeological heritage are Law 12/1998, of December 21, on Historical Heritage, which contemplates important sanctions against the destruction, negligent conservation and plundering of this type of elements. Last August, the Consell de Mallorca also approved allocating 600,000 euros to the island’s town councils for the public acquisition of archaeological spaces in order to enhance the island’s archaeological heritage. Throughout this year, the island institution has also allocated 270,000 euros to 27 sites in Mallorca to carry out improvement, maintenance and recovery interventions.
Ten years of the Balearic Institute of Maritime Archeology Studies
It is also worth remembering that in 2014 the Balearic Institute of Studies in Maritime Archeology (IBEAM) was launched, based in Formentera, which focuses on the research, protection and dissemination of the underwater archaeological heritage of the Balearic Islands under the protection of the approved Convention. in 2001 by UNESCO, which, at the international level, legally regulates Underwater Cultural Heritage. Although previously there were isolated laws that protected it, there was a lack of an international legal system that regulated it as an integral part of the cultural heritage of humanity and made the population aware of the need to protect it from the threats to which it is subjected. such as looting and commercial exploitation.
In an interview given to eDiario.es, Javier Rodríguez Pandozi, underwater archaeologist and one of the founders of IBEAM, points out that it was between the 60s and early 2000s when a “terrible and brutal looting” took place underwater. As he explains, although in Spain scientific activity in underwater archeology began to develop mainly between the late 70s and early 90s, generating a notable media impact in the press, it was not until the early 2000s when it began. to work with greater determination to raise public awareness to protect underwater cultural heritage.
In this sense, the head of research at IBEAM, Enrique Aragón, emphasizes, in statements to this medium, that looting has occurred “practically since the invention of diving” and, furthermore, they occur at various scales, “like any criminal activity.” ”. On the one hand, he mentions what he calls “own consumption”, that is, those divers who “find archaeological remains by chance and decide that they look better in their garden than in the museum and decide to appropriate it, which is still the case, by legislation.” , a crime.” On the other hand, he continues, there are those who “try to profit from the occasional sale of archaeological materials because they know that there is a market” and, thirdly, he alludes to a sector of the population that becomes professional in plundering and lives off This is the framework in which, presumably, the German couple who accumulated more than 1,400 historical pieces in their home would be located.
“These three situations, whether it is the fisherman or the sports diver who finds something or the person who is involved in the direct trafficking of antiquities, represent a big problem,” emphasizes Aragón, who appeals to the need for greater citizen awareness that This is an activity that “harms us all.”
Aragón regrets that it continues to be a common problem in the Balearic Islands, although he is grateful that there is currently greater publicity of bad practices with the aim of raising awareness among the population about the need to conserve these elements. In the case of IBEAM, it is the first underwater archeology center in the Balearic Islands that ensures the recovery and protection of this historical heritage. “The day after opening it, a resident of the island deposited in it an archaeological complex that he had extracted from a site. This is already telling you that if you tell the population that there is a commitment to protect this heritage, people will respond,” says Rodríguez Pandozi.
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