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Me too!

Here are a couple of other recent finds:

International hunt for stolen statue http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6155746%255E401,00.html
FROM CORRESPONDENTS IN ROME
March 20, 2003
POLICE have recovered fragments of an ancient Roman ivory statue of Apollo that were illegally excavated several years ago near Rome. The most significant find was the face of the statue, estimated to be from around the 1st century AD, police said. The fragments were recovered in London after a six-year investigation that led authorities through Germany, Switzerland and Cyprus. "Given the fragility of the material, there are very few ivory statues left from the age of antiquity," said Colonel Ugo Zottin, of the police art theft squad. "No comparable works exist" in Italy, he said. Officials said a group illegally excavated the face of the sculpture and about 100 fragments of it and another statue outside Rome seven years ago. Two people have been arrested in the case. The Culture Ministry said the market value of the statue fragments had not been established. The original ivory statue stood two metres high.< fragments. art ancient of thousands over turned already had that investigation international larger a part was seizure latest the said Police>

Necropolis proves headache for Vatican car park builders
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,911638,00.html
Sophie Arie in Rome
Tuesday March 11, 2003
The Guardian

Tombs from the time of the Roman emperor Nero have been unearthed as the Vatican tried to clear space for a multi-level underground car park.
Digging for the 300-space car park began several months ago, but Vatican officials are now rethinking the project after the remains of the nearly 2,000-year-old necropolis were unearthed.
Among the graves is the tombstone of Nero's secretary, along with well-preserved urns and amphorae.
Officials denied that the plans for the car park would threaten the discovery.
"Of course, no one will destroy any archaeological finds," said Monsignor Francesco Marchisano, the head of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology.
Other Vatican officials, desperate to "decongest" the Vatican, told the newspaper la Repubblica that ancient ruins were uncovered every time digging began in Italy. In this case they "did not seem that important", they said, and should not prevent the car park from being built.
"These days, even in the Vatican, it's difficult to drive around and find somewhere to park," said Archbishop Gianni Danzi, who is in charge of the Vatican's technical department.
The three-level car park is planned near a popular supermarket inside the walls of Vatican City.
The Vatican has faced growing parking problems in recent years as its 900 residents compete with outsiders for slots. Visitors tend to leave their cars in the Holy See before walking over the bridge across the Tiber into the restricted centre of Rome.
Before the 2000 Jubilee, the Pope blessed a 900-space car-and-coach park on the Janiculum Hill, next to the Vatican. Before it could be completed, the frescoed walls of a second-century villa had had to be removed by the Italian culture ministry.
Archaeological experts from the Vatican Museum were called in to advise on the new car park in late February, reportedly when security guards stopped a lorry leaving the building site loaded with amphorae and tombstones from the necropolis, inscribed in Latin.
Professor Andrea Carandini, - the archaeologist who led excavations of the walls on the Palatine hill, where legend has it that Romulus founded the city of Rome - said: "I don't believe that death should always triumph over life. Sometimes the two can live together, as is the case for the Athens metro.
"But first, they need to decide if they really need this car park."