SYDNEY – Italian art detectives have found stolen ancient treasures at a leading Australian university, including an artefact that most likely had been smuggled out of the country under piles of pasta, the institution said on Friday.

The Australian National University (ANU) said on Friday that it was working with the “specialist art squad” of Italy’s Carabinieri military police to return the priceless pieces.

The looted works discovered within the university’s classics museum included a 2,500-year-old amphora, a type of jar or vase with two handles from Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. The vase depicts Greek champion Heracles fighting the mythical Nemean Lion.

The Italian police discovered an old Polaroid photo of the Heracles vase while investigating an unnamed art thief that led them to believe the vase had been illegally plundered before it was sent to Australia.

The Canberra university said it had bought the vase in good faith at a Sotheby’s auction in 1984, and was “proud” to work with Italian investigators to see it returned to its rightful home.

Museum curator Georgia Pike-Rowney described the vase, which dates back to 530BC, as a “stunning example” of ancient Mediterranean craftsmanship.

Working in tandem with the museum, the Carabinieri also identified a stolen red fish plate from the Italian region of Apulia which they were able to trace to American art trafficker and food importer David Holland Swingler, who is known for having a culinary modus operandi.

“During trips to Italy, Swingler sourced material directly from tombaroli – literally ‘tomb robbers’ who undertake illegal excavations,” Dr Pike-Rowney said.

She added that Swingler “then smuggled the items to the US hidden among bundles of pasta and other Italian foods”.

Spurred to undertake its own audit, the ANU subsequently found a Roman marble head that belonged to a separate collection owned by the Vatican.

“Conversations about the repatriation of ancient artefacts have become prominent in recent years, as institutions across the world grapple with the legacies of historical collection practices,” said Dr Pike-Rowney.

“As Australia’s national university, ANU must be at the forefront of best practice in the management of restitution and repatriation cases.”

Italy’s government has agreed to lend the vase and the fish plate to the university until they are returned at a “future date”. AFP