The investigation began last November after police received a tip about a house that may have contained ancient skeletal remains. This information was confirmed during the police raid.
A local archaeologist said the bones could be 4,000 to 5,000 years old.
Since there was no documentation of the archaeological collection, it was considered illegal by local officials. The suspect cooperated with police, pointing to yet another house in a nearby town where police discovered another 350 archaeological artifacts.
Among them were a Bronze Age mill, a Roman loom and a Phoenician amphora, as well as nearly 200 bone fragments.
The find is “one of the largest illegal private collections in Alicante province,” police said.
The resident of the house told the police that he inherited the items after the death of a relative.
“However, he did not have any documents justifying the possession of the artefacts and had done nothing to dispose of them,” the police said.
Among the items seized were more than 1,000 small tiles believed to be from ancient Roman mosaics, several Roman ointments, as well as an 18th-century iron grenade and cannonballs.
Police also found several notebooks containing handwritten notes with the exact location of the items. They were believed to have been carried out by a deceased relative.
This information could help specialists determine the age and value of objects, as well as shed light on previously unknown archaeological sites, police said.
The two men are under investigation and may face charges of misappropriation of items of artistic, historical, cultural or scientific value, police said.
The objects are being stored at Denny’s Archaeological Museum while the investigation begins.
