The Valais cantonal police announced this Wednesday the “exceptional seizure of archaeological artifacts” and the end of an investigation begun last May with a flagrant offense.
In mid-May 2024, law enforcement surprised a 51-year-old Swiss man engaging in “illegal search for archaeological objects” with a metal detector. He did not have a permit and was arrested and questioned.
An investigation was then carried out, with the Cantonal Archeology Office.
Ultimately, the investigations “made it possible to discover and seize an impressive quantity of archaeological artifacts, invaluable witnesses to the history of our canton,” communicates the Valais police. And to cite objects of adornment as well as various tools dating from the Bronze Age (around 2000 BC) to today or even several Celtic, Roman, medieval, modern and contemporary coins.
During the investigation, another man, a 49-year-old Swiss man, was also identified and arrested. He engaged in the same practices.
These two individuals will be prosecuted for serious violation of the federal law on the transfer of cultural property as well as the Valais legal bases on the protection of nature, landscape and sites.
“This seizure, unique in Switzerland, illustrates the extent to which these activities endanger the preservation of archaeological heritage,” underline the police. Who further recall that “the use of metal detectors for the purpose of searching for historical or archaeological objects, even from modern and contemporary periods, is strictly prohibited without prior authorization from the Cantonal Archeology Office throughout the territory cantonal.”
