Bronze Age Swords, Arrowheads Seized By Customs In Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Philadelphia got a history lesson recently after they seized swords and arrowheads that date back to the Bronze Age.

According to federal authorities, officers seized 36 copper-alloy short swords and 50 copper-alloy arrowheads on Feb. 18 that were unlawfully imported to the United States.

The shipment initially arrived on an express delivery flight from the United Arab Emirates on Oct. 16. It was destined to an address in Jacksonville, Florida.

CBP officers x-rayed the shipment, which was manifested as metal decoration articles, and detected sword-like objects. They opened the shipment to find the swords and arrowheads, suspecting them to be cultural artifacts and detained the shipment for further investigation.

The National Targeting Center’s Antiquities Unit then solicited assistance from an archaeologist affiliated with a local Philadelphia university with extensive experience working in the Middle East.

The archaeologist later authenticated the short swords and arrowheads as antiquities dating back to the later second millennium BCE, 1600-1000 BCE, from an area along the southwestern Caspian Sea near the lush Talish Mountains region of Iran.

The antiquities are suspected to have been derived from illicit excavations of burial sites.

CBP officers will safeguard the antiquities until a disposition is ordered.

"Customs and Border Protection officers strive to rescue cultural artifacts from the grips of illicit international traders who plunder and exploit another nation’s heritage for profit," Elliot N. Ortiz, CBP’s Acting Area Port Director in Philadelphia said. "The deceptive practices used to smuggle these treasures into the United States not only violate our import laws but also undermine efforts to preserve and protect the integrity of cultural history."

Most countries have laws that protect their cultural property, officials said. These laws include export controls and national ownership of cultural property. Even if purchased from a business in the country of origin or in another country, the purchase does not necessarily confer ownership for lawful importation into the United States.

Importation of such items is permitted only when an export permit issued by the country of origin is presented with the article. Purveyors of these items have been known to offer phony export certificates, according to authorities.