The Rosetta Stone on display at the British Museum, London
In 2023, the British museum revealed that 1500 pieces from its collection were missing. More than 600 have since been found, and officials now hope to expand the recovery effort — with a treasure hunter.
More than two years after announcing that 1,500 of its Greek and Roman artefacts had been stolen or missing, the British Museum is intensifying its search for lost objects with a hire for a role that will certainly appeal to aspiring Indiana Joneses: a treasure hunter specialized.
According to , the chosen detective will help find the pieces, including gems, glass and jewelry dating from between the 15th century BC and the 19th century AD, whose whereabouts are still present today. remains unknown.
O Salary for the role has not been disclosedbut the museum management made it clear that time is urgentand the current team of five in charge of recovery, among their other duties at the museum, is overworked.
“We want to get as many people as possible to try to move forward,” he says. Thomas Harrisonresponsible for the museum’s Greek and Roman collections, at . “We want to make rapid progress when it comes to recovering the pieces.”
Of the approximately 1500 artefacts that were initially reported missing, they have until now been recovered 654. Some of the pieces were found for sale no eBayincluding a Roman jewel not worth 51 thousand euros that was being sold for 41 euros online.
Many others were recovered with the help of art dealers and catalogers who discovered stolen goods that had made their way to auctions. One of the most significant recoveries was a lot of 268 pieces which was found in the United States.
“It’s kind of exhilarating when you find a piece,” Harrison tells the Times. But Great discoveries are increasingly rareand “increasingly, it’s one object, two objects”, resulting in “fewer moments of catharsis”, he states.
There are also fears that many of the missing gold pieces have already been cast.
Once officially in office, the treasure hunter’s responsibilities will include communicate with art houses, traderscollectors and auctioneers around the world.
You will also have the task of follow any leads the museum receives. As a spokesperson detailed to , the role will involve a lot of research into archives.
All missing artefacts have been included in , an international database of more than 700,000 pieces that have been stolen. The museum was alerted to robberies in 2021. Initially, those responsible “incorrectly concluded that there was no basis for the allegations“.
However, oneinternal audit in 2022 revealed more evidence of the missing artifacts. Those responsible contacted the police that December, and the robberies were made public the following year.
Peter Higgs, curator at the museum for 30 years, was fired after being accused of stealing artefacts, although he denied all charges. The director of the museum at the time, Hartwig Fischer, resigned just nine days after the robberies were announced.
