Autentici e falsi nel traffico illecito di beni archeologici

The fight against illegal trafficking in archaeological goods goes hand in hand with the fight against counterfeiting. Both are crimes that alter knowledge of the ancient world, so they must be fought globally. Clandestine excavations fuel a business, run by criminal organizations, which is declining in Italy thanks to the activity of control of the territory by the police and increasingly incisive laws in the protection of cultural heritage, but which is growing in crisis areas, particularly in the Euro-Mediterranean area. Although the statistics on crimes have a positive trend, it does not mean that the problem of clandestine excavations in Italy is over. To find finds that can be sold at high prices, criminals devastate a large number of tombs and other archaeological sites in search of “treasures”. The damage caused by clandestine excavation consists not only in the theft and dispersion of finds, but also in the destruction of archaeological stratigraphies and therefore all informations about the historical transformations of the sites. If the originals of value are scarce, organized crime uses forgers, who can produce objects to imitate the ancient ones, to be put on sale. The counterfeit items are mixed with authentic finds, which may be of low commercial value. Sometimes the counterfeiters are skilled artists, able to deceive or, in any case, to put to the test even experts. But, in most cases the archaeological fakes in circulation are of modest craftsmanship. This shows an expansion of the market, now to be understood as a global dimension, and a lowering of the cultural level of those who buy. The inclusion of fakes in the clandestine traffic of archaeological goods increases the gravity of this crime, because it risks to pollute cultural and scientific activities if they are not recognized. Economic value depends essentially on the scientific value that objects can have when they are recognized in their authenticity and studied in relation to their context.