Spain receives seven Celtiberian helmets in Paris taken from Aranda de Moncayo site in Zaragoza

The handover took place at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris during an event attended by the Director-General for Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture, Román Fernández-Baca; the art collector, Christian Levett, founder and owner of the museum; and the Spanish Ambassador to UNESCO, Juan Andrés Perelló.

The bronze pieces, dating from between the 6th and 3rd Centuries BC, will travel to Spain to join the permanent collection at the Museum of Zaragoza, where they will be studied before being put on public display.

While speaking in Paris, the Director-General for Fine Arts underlined the important nature of the joint collaboration between individuals and institutions that made this act of archaeological restitution possible. "In the fight against the illegal trafficking of cultural assets, only a joint effort from everyone involved can guarantee success", he said, specifically mentioning the work done by the scientific community, the Office of the Public Prosecutor for Environmental Affairs, Urban Planning and Historic Heritage, the State law enforcement agencies, the Regional Government of Aragon and Christian Levett himself.

Román Fernández-Baca also highlighted the complexity of this case, which prevented a satisfactory resolution until today, Wednesday. "The city and necropolis of Aratikos was subject to slow, systematic and constant looting, which took place over the course of decades and, despite the alarm being raised, could not be prevented, unfortunately. Only when, in 2018, the Provincial High Court of Zaragoza passed down a ruling that undeniably attributed the looting and sentenced those to blame was the door opened to recovering the pieces, allowing us all to be here today", he said.

This handover in Paris represents the end of a process begun in September 2018 by the Spanish Ambassador to UNESCO, Juan Andrés Perelló, who informed the Ministry of Culture of the interest expressed by Christian Levett to return seven helmets that he had acquired - without knowing their unlawful origin - at two auctions held in 2008 and 2009 and through the antiques market in 2012, an which he had subsequently deposited at the museum he himself founded in the French town of Mougins.

Ambassador Juan Andrés Perelló said that "this event is directly connected to the spirit of the 1970 UNESCO Convention and a fine example of the best practice that should sought in the future by museum and State collectors".

The agreement acknowledges the good faith of the collector, Christian Levett, when acquiring the pieces, as well as his wish to return them to their legitimate owner now that the looting has been judicially accredited.

Aratikos, the Celtiberian city destroyed by the Roman army

Ministerio de Cultura y DeporteThe seven helmets returned to Spain on Wednesday come from the Celtiberian city of Aratikos, settled during the Iron Age and destroyed by the Roman army between 74 and 72 BC because of the Sertorian War that also saw the end of Numantia. This settlement stood on the so-called Cerro de Castejón, above the town of Aranda del Moncayo in Zaragoza.

Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, the necropolis was systematically looted by two residents who managed to gather an extraordinary collection of metallic Celtiberian pieces dating back to the Iron Age.

Their findings included remains and fragments of a series of 18 Celtiberian helmets of Hispano-Halkidiki origin that were illegally exported by those responsible for the looting with assistance from a Spanish antique dealer residing in Switzerland. Two of those helmets were sold in London, another in Hong Kong and the remaining 15 were acquired by the German, Alex Guttmann, in Berlin, considered to be the largest private collector of antique weapons in the world, who added the pieces to his collection until his death.

Following his death in 2001, his heirs sold part of the lot of helmets and seven of them - those now returned to Spain - ended up in the collection owned by Christian Levett.

Over 11 years of investigation

Various investigators alerted the Ministry of Culture about the possible looting of a Celtiberian site and, although the suspected looting could not initially be accredited, all the information was handed to the Historic Heritage Brigade of the Spanish National Police Force so it could launch the pertinent judicial proceedings. The Criminal Investigation Court N၇º 35 of Madrid opened preliminary proceedings, but the file was closed in 2011.

The investigations continued and collaboration between the then Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, the Regional Government of Aragon, the Public Prosecutor's Office for Environmental, Urban Planning and Historic Heritage Affairs and the Guardia Civil eventually culminated in Operation Helmet I in March 2013, with the arrest of one of those responsible for the looting and the seizure of 4,000 archaeological pieces from his home. Operation Helmet II was closed five months later, with the arrest of the second individual responsible for the looting and the seizure of 2,000 more archaeological pieces.

The two individuals arrested were sentenced in July 2018 by the Provincial High Court of Zaragoza to imprisonment and fines, as well as the handover and allocation to the Spanish State and the Autonomous Region of Aragon of all the archaeological assets seized. Examination of the pieces seized enabled the origin of the Celtiberian helmets that had appeared for sale at the European auctions to be accredited and a recovery operation to be launched, which remains ongoing, to return the eight helmets whose whereabouts remains unknown to Spain.

Non official translation