Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology (Apr 2024)
A FUNERARY MONUMENT FROM COLONIA AURELIA APULENSIS, RECOVERED BY AN UNESPECTED PATH
Abstract
This study addresses the issue raised by a funerary monument accidentally discovered in the area defined by archaeologists as the "eastern necropolis" of Colonia Aurelia Apulensis, component of the Apulum conurbation, the most significant city in the imperial province of Dacia. The monument was excavated under unfortunate conditions, somewhere in the years 2002-2003, during the connection of a private household to the city's water network. Due to the lack of specialized supervision by archaeologists, the monument was brutally removed from its original context (in situ) by an excavator, which struck and partially damaged a portion of the figurative scene depicted on the funerary monument. The current holder of the cultural property, a collector from Alba Iulia, was informed about this situation. He is the one who recovered the monument, restored it, and exhibited it within his collection at his residence. To conclude, the study also addresses the legal aspects regarding the ownership regime of such cultural goods, namely the legality of private collections of antiquities in cities that are overlapping archaeological sites, emphasizing the lack of involvement of public institutions in managing the evolution of these phenomena.
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