Robin Symes, Returns from Geneva and the Medici Dossier

Source: Medici Dossier

Dr Christos Tsirogiannis has identified the Etruscan male and female heads from the two sarcophagi returned from Geneva to Italy. The two feature in the Medici Dossier.

This raises issues about how this material moved from Medici to Symes. Was the return based on positive photographic identification?

In addition, where was the sarcophagus conserved? Who was responsible for the restoration?

We look forward to the official Italian press release where further information is likely to be revealed.

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Codename: Ainsbrook

I have been watching (UK) Channel 4's Time Team this evening. The programme looked at an undisclosed field (under a potato crop) where a Viking burial had been found. The location in Yorkshire was so sensitive that it was given a codename: Ainsbrook. Here is the summary:
In late 2003 two metal detectorists were working in a field in Yorkshire. They found 'treasure' buried just beneath the surface – a collection of Viking material next to a body. Although they had been detecting on the site for a number of years, during which time they had made large numbers of finds, nothing they had uncovered previously compared with this. They decided to share their discovery with archaeologists.The programme explored the tension between metal-detectorists and the English Heritage sponsored archaeologists putting six trenches into the field based on a geo-physical survey. Finds made by the metal-detectorists did not easily map onto the archaeological features.

Part of the programme had an …

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